What If
by Chocolatiee
Summary: What if Bella was one of the Cullens--and Edward was the human? Would they still fall in love with each other?
1. Prologue

I was not going to go to school.

No. I wasn't.

And that was that. If I said I didn't want to go to school then I was NOT going to school.

"Bella, get up." I felt Alice shake me gently. "C'mon, already."

"Mumph," was all I managed to get out, because I had my feather-filled pillow over my head and the comforter over the pillow.

After a long pause, Alice said, "You're language is the one I can't understand." She ripped the covers off of me. "Why are you on the couch, anyways? What were you doing last night?"

I sat up and ran a hand through my messy hair. "Trying to sleep," I told her impatiently. "Now give me the blankets back!"

Another long pause. "You were trying to sleep," she repeated.

"Mumph."

She sighed heavily and dramatically. "Fine then. You spend the day... sleeping. While you're at it, how about you order some pizza?" She snorted. "And then eat it?"

I ducked back under my pillow. "Maybe I will!"

"You want me to pick up your homework for you?"

"No."

"Okayyyy." She dragged the word out. "Are you sure you want to stay in bed? Won't you get bored?"

I would have laughed, but I couldn't even force a smile. "If I get bored then I'll do what you suggested and order in some food. And watch wrestling." I peered out at her from under the blanket. "Try and get drunk on beer or something."

Alice looked like she desperately wanted to say something to me, but was holding back. She hesitated. "Er... okay, Bells. You... have a good time today, then. And, you know... good luck."

And with that she disappeared out the door.

Once I was sure she was gone, I threw back the blanket and stood up, not wobbling one bit. I _walked_ up the stairs—I had the whole day—and made sure everybody was out of the house. Carlisle was working, Esme was out shopping, and the rest of them were at school by now.

You know what I wanted? An extremely painful hangover. I had never actually experienced one of those before. I wondered what it felt like.

Plus, it would probably get my mind off... everything.

I shook myself mentally. I couldn't think about Everything. If I thought about it all, then I'd feel like crying, and then when nothing came, I'd just go into that weird depression mode.

Once I was in my room, I sat down at my desk and scrambled through the top left drawer, looking for that one piece of paper. After taking out three packages of printer paper (don't ask _me_), ten or so pens and pencils (I needed a lot, since I had a bad habit of loosing them), and tons and tons of gum wrappers (another bad habit), I found it.

The List.

Chewing on my lower lip, I crossed out the fifth thing on The List: Sleep Through the Night. I didn't know what I had been thinking, even trying it out. Of course it wouldn't work. Most of these things on this list were impossible.

But I had to try, anyways. For him.

I peered down at number six. In his elegant handwriting, it said, Eat Ten Crab Apples All at Once.

At first I just stared at it. _What? Eat ten crab apples?_

What kind of number six was that? I was thinking it would be something wiser; more daring. Something like: Dive Off Golden Gate Bridge, or: Sing Along to Billy Joel.

What did _crab apples_ have to do with anything?

I sighed and carefully placed the piece of paper back on my desk. There were so many creases in it, from being folded and unfolded and refolded, and yet only three things were crossed off on the list.

How could he have done so little?

Then I shook myself mentally. It didn't matter. What mattered was that I completed the list.

And that was what I was going to do.

For him.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, I've seen some of the reviews, and I just have to say—I know that vampires don't eat and drink or sleep. Okay? I **_**know**_** that. If you read that first part correctly, you'll realize Bella said she was TRYING to sleep. She did not actually succeed. I don't want to reveal anything, so I'm not going to explain anything more, but if you keep on reading, you'll find out why Bella was trying to sleep.** **But now on with the story...**

On the second day of school back from summer vacation, I got up off the couch, had a shower, and got dressed.

Of course I didn't _want_ to. Why should I when everything else was so... messed up? When nothing in my life was going right, why should I have to add to it by trying to endure biology?

But I knew it was that or do number seven on The List: Read the Dictionary.

So I went.

Alice gave me a ride.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked me as we zoomed down the road. "What happened to you yesterday. Was it—" She cut herself off and looked out the window. "I meant—"

"Yeah," I said, turning the volume on the radio down a notch. "It was that."

"Ah." She nodded slowly once. "Bella... this may sound harsh, coming from me, but that was three months ago. It's over now. It's time to... to realize that he's..." She took a breath. "Gone."

"NO!" I cried a little too quickly. "I _know_ he's gone, okay? I _know_! It's just that he's gone because of ME!" I poked my index finger at myself. "All that happened was _my fault_! If I hadn't... if I had just _stayed home_..."

I had to stop talking. If I opened my mouth again, I was afraid I would abruptly begin to sob.

Alice slammed on the brakes suddenly. "That _was not_ your fault," she said firmly. "Do you hear me? It wasn't your fault, what happened."

"Yes it was!" I argued, and a rather large lump formed in my throat. "He told me to stay inside. He said it wasn't safe for me. But... but I didn't listen, Alice! I waited a few minutes, but then I snuck out and saw him fighting!"

I put my head in my hands. "So I ran up to him, to try and _help_ him. There were just _so many_ _of them_! But I didn't see the one behind me... so he pushed me out of the way and lost his concentration and then—" I hiccupped. "—and then they got him!"

"Bella—"

"And right after that I was thinking, _If they get me now, I don't care, I deserve what I get_, but you guys showed up then and... and..." I couldn't speak clearly anymore, and my whole body was shaking.

"If anything, Bells, it was our fault for not coming earlier."

"But he c-could have held th-them off until you guys c-came!" I shook my head hastily. "He lost concentration because they were attacking me, too! He was strong; you _know_ what he could have done to a pack of those things!" I took in a shallow breath and slammed my fist down on the dashboard. "I just had to be _so stupid_!"

"You aren't stupid, Bella," she said calmly. "Any of us would have done the exact same thing." She placed a hand on my quivering arm.

I just shook my head again and didn't say anything more. After a few seconds of silence—besides the faint sound of the radio—I got a grip on my sanity. "Let's just go to school," I said firmly.

"Maybe you should take today off, too—"

"I'm fine!" I lied. "Honestly. Let's just go."

The look on Alice's face was somewhere between shock, worry, and anxiety. Finally, though, she said, "Okay. But if you need anything during the day, Bells, just come and find me, alright? I won't be far."

I nodded, and she put the gear into drive. "Then let's go."

The first half of the day I was on complete autopilot.

I walked into class, did my work, walked out to the next, not really seeing the people around me.

At lunch, I got my regular tray of food—not that I would eat anything—and went to sit down with the rest of them.

As I sat down, they gave me weird looks. Alice must have told them.

"Hey," I said to nobody in particular.

"How _are_ you, Bella?" Jasper questioned, staring hard at me.

"Yes, are you alright?" Emmett placed his chin in his hand and his elbow on the table, looking at me thoughtfully.

Rosalie didn't say anything. She just examined an already perfect cuticle.

"Uh... I'm good." I shoved the food to the sides of my plate. It made it look like I ate something if I did this.

"Are you sure?"

Alice nudged Jasper a little; he immediately stopped talking, and just looked down at the table.

Then there was a long silence.

"Why are you all so quiet?" I asked in a low voice, even though I already knew the answer.

"No reason—" Alice started, but was interrupted by Rosalie.

"How about we just act like nothing happened from now on?" she said. "How about we just act like nothing bad happened over the summer, okay? Because these silences are getting _really_ annoying."

"Rose!" Alice gasped.

"It's been _three months_!" she went on. "Three months since it's happened. And before that he was only with us for, what? _Four weeks_? What did we all really know about him anyways? Do any of you know what his favourite color was?" She looked at us expectantly, and, when nobody replied, she continued. "What about what he wanted to do _before_ he turned into... us?"

There was some more silence. I was the first to speak up. "Dark, dark blue," I informed the table more than I informed them. "And—and he wanted to be a doctor."

Rosalie, clearly fed up, got up from the table, threw her food in the trash can, and walked out of the cafeteria, her high heels making _clickity clackity_ noises all the way.

Emmett got up, too. "I should go follow her."

Alice nodded, and he walked out of the cafeteria, too.

After a few seconds, Alice said, "I'm sorry, Bella."

"I said it's fine." I pushed my food to the other side of my plate, now. "And maybe Rosalie is right. Maybe we should just... _forget_ about him. Maybe it's best for all of us."

"You know that he wouldn't want—"

"I _do_ know what Chris would want!" I snapped, and I saw Alice flinch a bit. It was the first time one of us had said his name since the funeral. "And I'm going to do what he would want!" I didn't bother telling Alice I wasn't talking about forgetting him—I was actually talking about The List. I just got up and began walking towards the exit, leaving my food behind.

"Bella, I didn't mean anything..." Alice was already right behind me.

"I just would like to be alone, if that's okay with you," I told her, not looking back.

"Sure." Her voice was slightly shaky as she let me walk out of the cafeteria.

I hadn't meant to be so harsh—but talking about him brought up a different side of me. I knew Rosalie was right. I had to forget him. And she was right about that other part too—we had only known him four weeks. For all I knew, his real name could have been Bob or something.

I was trying to convince myself this as I stalked down the hall, not exactly knowing where I was going. Maybe I would go read the dictionary. There was nothing left to do anyways—

My thoughts were interrupted; I could smell something.

No. Not just a _something_. A really, really _good_ something. I would have taken it as a human's blood, but not even _they_ smelt this good.

I stopped in my tracks and, seeing that nobody else was in the hallway, I sniffed the air.

Oh, wow. That was _delicious_.

And it was coming from the biology lab.

My feet automatically began walking in that direction. I could just go and _see_ what smelt so good and if I lost my control, I would just leave. It never hurt to be a little curious, did it?

I made no noise as I started to run down the hall. The smell was getting closer. I could almost _taste_ it—

No. You _cannot_ taste _anything_, I said to myself. You _will_ not taste anything. Just _smell_.

I had reached the biology lab, and my hand reached for the door. I pulled it away. I had to be careful. I couldn't do anything that could be dangerous in any way.

So, instead, I peeked through the small glass window near the very top of the door.

At first there was nothing there. There was just an empty classroom.

But then someone walked across, their back facing me, to one of the tables. I knew at once that _this_ was the aroma. This _person_ was the smell.

Well, technically, it wasn't _them_. It was their blood.

Whoever they were, they sat down—their back still to me—at one of the tables. They were eating their lunch. Alone. In the biology room.

My hand reached for the door knob but, once again, I pulled it back. I couldn't go in there. It was a matter of life or death. I _couldn't_...

I have to walk away right now, I thought. _Right now_ before my senses suddenly take over.

And I was about to walk away. I really was.

But then his water bottle rolled off the table and onto the ground, and he bent over to pick it up.

And he saw me.

And I saw him.

The first thing I noticed was his eyes—they were a bright, bright green. Some his bronze-coloured hair was falling into one of them as he was picking up the bottle from the ground.

He could have been a vampire, too, if it wasn't for his eyes and slightly tanned skin.

Quickly, I ducked out of view of the window and forced myself to walk away.

I didn't want to see him again; he sort of reminded me of...

You Know Who.

I rubbed my temples and sighed. That was fine. Perfectly fine. I would just have to avoid him if I ever wanted to forget Chris.

And that would be easy.

Or at least that was what I thought.


	3. Chapter 2

By the end of the day, I felt tired, which really didn't make sense, since it was impossible for me to feel _tired_.

But yet I had some sort of a feeling—something like exhaustion and anger mushed together into one, except it was worse. _Way _worse.

I hadn't gone hunting since... _ever_. And smelling that guy in the biology room hadn't helped much. I needed to drink.

"I'm going hunting today," I informed Alice as we walked to her car. We hadn't said a word to each other after I ran out of the cafeteria that lunch period, when I had snapped at her for a stupid reason: I was getting defensive about Chris, even though he was gone. I just had to swallow my tears and face that fact. _He was never coming back_.

"Do you want company?" she asked, and I heard a little bit of hopefulness in her voice.

"Yeah," I said. "That would be nice."

"Okay. Then I'm coming."

"Sounds good."

When we got to her car, she stopped immediately walking. She dropped the keys that were in her hands, and stared at the air in front of her, like she could see something that nobody else could see.

"The forest," I heard her murmur. "He's there. In a cave."

I gasped lightly and dug around in my backpack for a pencil and a piece of paper. God why did I have to loose my writing materials so much...

"It's dark. There are others. He's made them."

WHERE WAS A PENCIL WHEN YOU NEEDED ONE?

"I... I can't see what's going on..."

My hand felt something crumpled, and I pulled that out, along with a pen that was nearly out of ink. I thrust the pen in her hand and placed the paper in front of her. She started drawing straight away.

The pencil drew out a semi-circle with shading all around it, and a blank white space inside of it. Then, on top of the circle, she began drawing tree after tree, down to every leaf. Behind the trees were other things—they were barely visible, though; just a light shading with the pencil in a human-shaped figure.

Except I knew that whatever they were, they weren't human.

"They're going to—"

She stopped talking at once, and she dropped the pencil in her hand. She let out a small gasp before finally looking around.

"He's... _shielding_ it," she said, a little breathless. "That's never happened to me before! It's like he _shut me out_!"

"Who did?" I put one of my hands on her shoulder. "_Who _shut you out, Alice?"

She shook her head and, her hands shaking, she picked up the keys and, with a press of a button, unlocked her car. "It's not true. It _can't_ be true. It just doesn't _make any sense at all_!"

"Alice _tell me_!" Then I pushed her out of the way and got into the driver's seat. "No, I'll drive. You talk."

She didn't bother arguing with me. She just walked around the car to the other side, and slid into the black leathery seat beside me, handing me the keys. She still seemed to be in some sort of a trance—but not a _vision_ trance. More like she was thinking, and thinking hard.

"Impossible," she repeated, leaning back in the seat. I put the key in the ignition, and the Porsche revved up.

"Alice, tell me. What happened?" I showed her the piece of paper, while backing up the car at the same time. I wasn't the best driver—so this wasn't a very good idea. But desperate times called for desperate measures. "You said something about a cave, and something about someone being there. In the forest." I pointed at the semi-circle. "Is this the cave?"

She nodded at me, but her mind was somewhere else. "He was _there_. And _they_ were there. And—and he _made_ them."

"He—what? Alice, tell me, who's _he_?"

"It wasn't real. Someone must have stuck this vision in my head. Someone with extreme power. Because there is NO WAY that _that_'s possible!" She turned to face me. "NO WAY!"

"ALICE! WHO IS HE? WHAT IS HE DOING?"

But before she could reply, the sound of tires screeching came from behind me, and I panicked—I hadn't stopped pressing the pedal while I was yelling at Alice, and I hadn't bothered to look or even listen for any other cars passing by. I dropped the piece of paper and slammed on the brakes, but that didn't work—something slammed into the back of the yellow Porsche, and _hard_. _Well that'll leave a nice-sized dent_, I couldn't help but think to myself.

"What was that?" Alice spun around in her seat. I did, too, and saw a shiny silver Volvo right behind us—it had crashed into the car when I hit the brakes.

"Oh boy," I said, shoving open my door to get out. "I'll go... check the damage."

But as soon as I got out, the owner of the Volvo got out too.

And I smelt that inviting smell that had come from the biology lab, once again.

Uh oh.

I had to get out of here.

The boy with bronze hair and green eyes looked at me once, and then looked away again. He walked around his car to the front, and inspected the bumper of it. I could see him shaking his head and running his fingers through his longish, messy hair. His eyes were widened.

I held my breath—which, of course, wasn't hard for me. If I smelt him I might... and I couldn't.

"What were you doing?" he asked me in a smooth, yet rough voice. "Didn't you see me?"

"Er—no," I replied, beginning to bite my nails. I had ruined his shiny Volvo. And Alice's Porsche.

Great.

I heard Alice get out of the car. I also heard her sharp intake of breath when she saw the Volvo crushed into her car. "Oh my God, Bella." She looked at me. "What have you _done_?"

"Nothing that a hammer won't fix!" I said unintelligently. I continued to hold my breath as I walked towards the dent. "This won't cost much." I gestured to the Porsche. "And besides, it shouldn't be a problem." And then I saw the humongous dent in the Volvo. "You know I guess that might cost a... a little of a lot, but... you know." I looked up at the guy. He looked exactly like—

I cut my thoughts off and continued blabbering. "I'm sure I could pull some strings at... I mean _with_... the mechanic. I'm sure he'd do it for free if I asked him." I glanced at the dent again. "Maybe."

He scratched his head like he wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Well, anyways," Alice said, "we should be on our way since we're late for something. But—" She ran her fingers over the Volvo—"I'll figure something out." She looked back up at the guy with bronze hair. "Don't worry—we'll pay for it. This was our fault."

The guy nodded. "Thanks," he said, before going back into his car, revving up the engine, and driving away.

When he was gone I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally.

"He smelt good." Alice leaned on her car and crossed her arms. Then she suddenly became serious. "But, honestly, Bella, we need to get my car fixed. I _cannot_ go driving around with a big dent in it, you know."

"Will do. Now, _anyways_, can you tell me about that vision now?" I stared at her hard. "It could be important."

She chewed on her lower lip. "There are more of them. The newborns. Some of them ran when we came."

"In the forest in a cave?"

"Yeah. But I couldn't tell which forest it was." She shut her eyes, like she was picturing the vision again. "But I know that the forest isn't here, in Forks."

"And what's so impossible?" I questioned. "What's were you talking about there?"

I could see her swallow. "I—it can't be true, Bells. Someone probably planted the vision in my head somehow, to throw us off track of what's _really_ going on. Because it's not true, you know. It _can't_ be true."

"Just _tell me_, Alice!"

Slowly, she drew a long, deep breath. "It was who made them. The newborns, I mean."

"Who made them?"

She took one more breath before saying, "Chris did."


	4. Chapter 3

I stared at Alice like she had just suggested we go get some hamburgers with the werewolves.

"Pardon?"

She turned around and went towards the driver's seat. "Nothing. It's not true. How could it be true? He's dead. We all know that. Now let's just go home, okay?"

"No, Alice, wait." I caught up to her before she entered the car. "Chris is alive?"

"No, Bella, it's impossible. He's dead. You said you _saw _him die."

"I _did_—I saw them rip him up!" I swallowed, realizing what I had just said. "I saw them rip him up... but I didn't... I didn't... Oh my God." My knees buckled from under me, and I had to kneel down on the pavement. "I didn't see them burn him," I told her quietly. "I only saw them—you know."

What was—

But then if Alice's vision was right—

Then why would he—

God, I couldn't even think coherently.

Alice's hands were shaking a little. "You mean... you didn't..."

I shook my head.

"Oh... well... I..." She opened the door and got into the car. "We need to talk to Carlisle."

"I agree."

We drove back to the house, not saying one thing to each other. I was grateful for the silence; it gave me time to really gather my thoughts about everything. I _hadn't_ seen Chris die. He could still be out there. The one thing I couldn't—_wouldn't_—believe was that he had made newborns. That he had somehow blocked Alice's vision—because that was ridiculous. It just wasn't possible.

And The List... what was with that, then? Why would he leave it for me to find if... if he didn't _know_...

Or if he _did_ know...

Arghh. It didn't MAKE ANY SENSE.

Okay, I said to myself. Just... just get your facts straight. You found him in the forest, dying.

_Dying from what? _a voice in the back of my mind asked me. I ignored it.

You found him all bloody and whatnot—so you brought him back to the house, where all of them made the decision to change him. So they did. He would always be locked up in his room, doing something. Homework, apparently. He would mostly come out for hunting and school. You were the only one to really talk to him—to get to know him. Everyone else thought he was a freak.

I wrinkled my brow. None of that meant _anything_. So what, he was always in his room, doing homework.

_Or doing something else? _that voice said.

No. He couldn't have been doing anything else. He was nice and sweet—and he just seemed so _honest_...

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to remember something, _anything_, that might help figure out why Alice's vision was—

Oh my God.

That one time when we were hunting with Jasper and Carlisle. He was getting pretty heated up with Jasper about a stupid fight—something about controlling yourself around humans. Chris was saying—anyway, that part didn't matter. What mattered was that Jasper and him were getting pretty roughed up, but the look on Jasper's face looked like he was concentrating harder on something else. Chris ended up punching Jasper, because he had offended Chris, but when I asked Jasper later about it, and why he didn't just calm Chris down... he said...

He had tried, but couldn't.

He said something was mentally pushing him away. Pushing him farther and farther away from getting inside his emotions and just _cooling him down_.

Back then nobody had really put the pieces together. Back then Jasper had just let it go like it was nothing. So had everybody else. But now... well... it was so obvious I had to wonder why not one of us had figured it out before.

Chris was a shield. Like me. But it was obviously more powerful if he could tell when Alice was having a vision—and then block it.

But then _that_ would mean that he _had_ blocked out Alice's vision. And nobody would be blocking a vision if they were dead—or if they had something to hide.

THEN WHY HAD HE LEFT THE LIST IF HE HADN'T—you know.

It didn't matter. I knew he was alive now. I knew he was hiding something. I knew he had made the newborns—even if I didn't want to believe it. The List most likely had _nothing_ to do with... with whatever was going on.

_Yes it does! _the voice in my mind was warning me. _Just keep thinking about why—_

"Alice," I said, cutting off the annoying voice. "He was a shield."

She slammed on the brakes and looked at me. "Seriously? Are you sure?"

"Yes."

She shut her eyes and put her forehead on the top of the steering wheel. "Even _I_ can't see where this is going."

***

Carlisle sat back in his chair, looking absolutely stunned. Alice and I had just finished telling him everything—her vision, what Chris was, all of that.

And I wanted to cry.

He had seemed so sweet and honest and—well, yeah. How could he have made those newborns? How could he have been hiding something from _us_? The people that _helped _him?

Well—we didn't really help him. We really just damned him.

But same difference.

"That's—I can't—" Carlisle looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. "It's just..."

"I know," Alice said understandingly. "I know."

"So are you sure he made them? What about the ones that first attacked around this area?" He sat up. "The first batch, that—" He used air quotations here—"'Killed' him?"

"He made them—I saw one that I had seen get away there."

I swallowed. Why would he—how could he—do that?

And I had thought that he was a nice, sweet guy with kind of a temper that had an unusual love of the dictionary and crab apples. Now I found out he was a—what?—a nomad?

Yeah. Great. Just great.

"And he blocked you out, Alice?" Carlisle asked.

She nodded. "Bella was telling me about that time you guys went hunting, and he blocked Jasper out or something like that, too."

I just rubbed my temples. I was so confused.

"I want to go hunting," I said suddenly.

They both looked at me.

"Are you still coming, Alice?" I asked.

"Of course, if you still want me to."

"I do. And I need to go _now_."

I was lying. I didn't _need_ to go right _then_. I could have held it off a little more without completely loosing control. I had willpower. But I really just had to get out of the house—away from all the talking about Chris and newborns and shields and... Everything.

Carlisle said, "You shouldn't be going alone, the two of you." He paused. "Just in case."

"I'll see if Jasper wants to come then," Alice told us before running up the stairs to find him.

When she was gone, Carlisle turned to me. "Did you know before, Bella?"

"Know what before?"

"Chris being able to shield."

I shook my head so fast my dark hair flew around a little. "No. I didn't."

I could tell he could tell I didn't want to talk about it anymore, because he just gave me a sympathetic glance.

"Jasper's coming!" Alice announced from the top of the stairs.

Jasper suddenly appeared beside her. "I'm hungry for some grizzlies!"

I managed to force a smile at the two of them. Only, it didn't really feel like one. It just felt like a motion my mouth was making—filled with no emotion whatsoever.

"Let's go then," I said urgently, wanting to get out of the house, and wanting to catch a grizzly or two, myself.

And, I knew I shouldn't have been worrying about it anymore, considering the ridiculous circumstances—but Drinking Three Bears Completely in One Hunting Trip, was number eight on The List.

**A/N: This chapter wasn't that long, but I'm really going to try to make the next one longer than any of the others. Oh and could you guys please (with a cherry and a bunch of whipped cream on top) review it? I'd be, like, eternally grateful, and it won't take that long! =D **


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing (: I appreciate it. If I could bake you a cake, I would. Seriously. So... um... keep reviewing! Thanks!!!**

It didn't take me long to find the boy with bronze hair the next day. I just sniffed the air once, and could immediately tell. He smelt like... well, I wasn't sure what he smelt like. But it was _very, very_ good.

I found him standing by his locker, piling books into his backpack.

"Hi," I said.

He turned around and looked at me. His deep green eyes looked like the ocean when it didn't look blue or black—it looked green. And it was like you could look into them forever and ever and just... get lost.

Well it was good I had drunk three grizzly bears yesterday.

"Oh." He looked up at me. "Hello..." He frowned, like he was trying to remember something.

"Bella," I told him. "I'm Bella."

"I'm Edward," he replied, and continued to put books into his bag.

_Edward_, I thought. _That's a nice name_.

Then I snapped out of it.

"So, um, once again, sorry about your Volvo. I couldn't really see where I was going and then I... er..." I nodded once and closed my mouth, trying not to babble on like a complete idiot. Nobody else had _this_ effect on me.

Edward looked amused. "It's okay."

"But I have your money here." I dug around in my bag for the envelope with the check in it. "To repair your car."

"No, it's fine—" He started.

"Seriously. I insist." My hand came across the envelope, and I took it out from my bag. I shoved it at him. "Here it is. I don't know how much it will cost to repair it, but, trust me, that should cover it."

He took a peek in the envelope and his eyes bugged out of his head. "I can't accept this," he said, pushing it back into my hands. His finger touched mine lightly, and he frowned. "You have cold hands."

"It's cold out today."

"No it's not."

I clenched my jaw. "Can you please just take the money?"

"It's too much."

"Then bring me back the change or something. I don't care."

He didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Yesterday, your eyes were black," he said. "Now they're brownish."

"Yeah, well, I got contacts, okay? Now if you would please just take the money..." I put it in his hands, refraining from touching his fingers again. "There. Now keep it all, if you want—I don't need it, I had that just lying around somewhere and—"

"You had _this much money_ lying around?" Edward asked as if this was ridiculous.

"Yes, I did, which is why you should take it."

"But I don't _want_ to take it."

"Well you're gonna have to," I told him before beginning to walk away.

"Wait." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. He shivered. "Jeez, you're cold."

"I _told_ you, it's freezing out today."

He shook his head. "Anyways. It doesn't matter." Then he leaned against a locker, and I realized he was a few inches taller than me. "This may sound crazy—but were you the one spying on my when I was in the biology lab at lunch yesterday?"

I snorted. "_Noo_..."

Edward tilted his head.

"I wasn't _spying_. I was looking for my textbook. But I saw you and I didn't want to—interrupt. Just in case you were doing something really important."

"I was eating a sandwich."

"How was I supposed to know that?"

He blinked.

"Anyways, I'm going to be late." I gestured to all the people running into their first period class. "I have to go—Mr. Tellay doesn't like it when people are late and—"

"I have Mr. Tellay, too, right now."

Great.

The two of us walked to room 102 without saying anything to one another. Frankly, I was glad. I didn't _want_ to talk to him. I didn't even want to be near him—it was risking too much. So all the way to class, I held my breath and didn't look at his sea-green eyes or his shiny hair. All I did was stare straight ahead—and walk.

When we got there, Mr. Tellay was talking about the value of X or something. He saw us and cast a disapproving glance. "Edward. Bella. Please have a seat—and if either of you are tardy to my class again, then I'll suppose I'll have to give you detention."

"Sorry," I mumbled before sitting down in a seat beside Alice.

When Mr. Tellay started to talk again, Alice said, "So did you give him the money?"

I nodded, staring straight ahead just in case Mr. Tellay looked in my direction and saw me and Alice talking. "Yepp."

"He's pretty good-looking, hey?"

I nodded again.

"And he smells like... well. You know."

"You bet I know."

"And he sort of looks like... you know."

She didn't have to finish her sentence. I knew what she was going to say. _Like Chris_. "Yeah. I know."

"But it's dangerous."

Now I looked at Alice. "Why? Because he smells so good?"

"Yeah. And you aren't very old, as us, I mean, so maybe you should... I don't know." She hesitated. "Stay away from him?"

"Because it's dangerous?"

"Yes. For all of us."

"Well I was going to anyways. Stay away, I mean," I said. It wasn't like I _wanted_ to be near him. The only thing that really drew me into him was the scent of his blood—and I had enough self-control, so I would make sure it didn't draw me in any longer. Starting... _now_, I just wouldn't breathe.

Okay. Wait. Starting... _now_.

It was just such a nice scent, I didn't understand why I couldn't just _smell_ it without—

STARTING NOW.

***

What was wrong with me? I was sitting at our table, pushing the stuff that humans called food on my plate around with my fork, feeling bad for Edward. I should be feeling bad for _me_, considering all the stares I was getting as people walked by our table. Stares that said, "What a freak." Edward was nowhere in sight—which must have meant he was upstairs in the biology lab, eating his lunch _there_ again.

Alone.

"What are you thinking about?" Alice asked me quietly. "You look out of it."

"Stuff," I replied blankly, hoping she took it as, "I'm thinking about Chris so drop the subject."

"Ah. I see." She turned to Rosalie, listening to a story she was telling about some guy who had serenaded her window last night. Apparently, she ended up having to dump a bucket of freezing water on him before he went away.

"You know what?" I said, standing up. "I think I'm going to go read a book."

All four of the others stared at me. "Um, okay," Alice said. "See you after lunch, then."

I could feel their eyes burning into my back as I walked away and threw my plate of food in the garbage. They were probably talking about me now—how I was taking the news about Chris pretty darn hard. Except, I wasn't anymore. Not really. I had come to the realization that he was evil. And if he was evil, then he was... er, then he was evil.

Well, that was what I was telling myself. I wasn't quite sure if it was true or not.

My feet led me down the hallway and towards the biology lab. I didn't _want_ to go there—I just _had_ to.

When I was standing outside the door, my hand hovering over the doorknob, I was thinking, _You don't _have_ to do this, Bella. You have enough control over yourself to stay away from him—maybe if you try enough, you can stay away from him for good. And it would be safer for everybody that way. _

But my hand turned the doorknob anyway.

When he saw me, a look of surprise came over his face. "Oh... hi, Bella. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to eat lunch with you," I said simply. But then I realized I had no food with me. "Well, actually, I'm just here to sit. And talk. Whatever. I was bored in the cafeteria."

"So when you're bored, you come up here to talk to me?"

I swallowed. "Well, I didn't mean it that way, exactly."

He didn't say anything for a few seconds, and, for those few seconds, I was genuinely afraid he would turn me down. That he would say, "I came here to eat alone, and I want to be alone. So leave," or, "Get out of my face."

But, instead, he said, "Have a seat," and patted the stool beside him.

So I sat.

"Why don't you eat down in the cafeteria?" I asked him, concentrating on the smell of his peanut butter sandwich.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm new here for one—and for another, I can get most of my homework done this way. I don't get my homework done at home most of the time, because I'm mostly at the hospital, shadowing the doctors and all of that."

"You—you want to be a doctor?"

"Yes."

"That's... cool," I said honestly. And then: "Wait—what's your favourite color?"

"Blue," he said. But he frowned. "Why?"

"Oh. Just wondering."

He looked like Chris. He wanted to be a doctor. His favourite color was blue. Like Chris.

Kinda creepy.

For a few more long moments, neither of us talked.

"Why are you up here again?" he questioned finally.

"I told you: I was bored... and... um... I don't know." Of course, I couldn't just say, "You're blood calls to me," because that'd be really awkward.

"How about," he started, and by the tone of his voice I could tell what he was going to say. And I was right. "I take you out for dinner Friday night or something, if you're not busy."

_Say no_, a voice in my mind told me. _Tell him you never want to see him again—tell him you can't be friends, and you CANNOT be more than friends. Set him straight this minute before you get yourself deeper in. Besides, you already have an evil vampire out there in some unknown forest creating newborns. Remember? He tried to kill you?_

I remembered. But I couldn't tell Edward I couldn't be friends. That wouldn't be nice, and I was a fairly nice person most of the time.

_Then tell him you've got a boyfriend. _

But I don't!

_Then tell him you're busy_.

I took a deep breath, ready to tell him that I was busy Friday night, but I heard words spilling out of my mouth before I could help myself. "That'd be great."

His face brightened a little. "Cool."

Oh. Yeah. Very cool, Bella. Very cool.


	6. Chapter 5

Friday night I was sitting at home in my pyjamas, watching a rerun of _Friends_, waiting for everyone to leave. Alice and Jasper were going to some glow-in-the-dark bowling place for the heck of it, Esme was out shopping, Carlisle was at the hospital, and Rosalie and Emmett were going out to Port Angeles to do some shopping, too, or something like that.

And I was staying home.

Or, that was what they all thought.

"Are you sure you'll be okay alone, Bella?" Alice asked me, slipping on her coat. "With this whole Chris thing going on right now—"

"I'm fine," I told her.

"Are you sure—"

"Yes, Alice!" I got up from the couch and rushed over to her. "Now I don't want to keep you and Jasper from bowling, so go!"

Jasper looked at me strangely before walking out the door. I knew he knew something was up. If Alice knew, though, she didn't let on. "Okay then. But if you need _anything_, Bells, just call me, alright? _Anything_."

"I know, I know now get your butt in the car!" As I pushed her out the door and slammed it behind her, I sighed a sigh of relief. "Two down, two to go."

"Huh?" Emmett asked, coming down the staircase. "What'd ya mean, _two to go_?"

"I _meaaan_." I laughed nervously. "Two more steps to go until I reach the couch!" I took the two biggest steps I possibly could, and then plopped down on the couch. "See?" Then, quickly, I changed the subject. "So shouldn't you and Rose be heading out to Port Angeles right about now?"

He shook his head. "No. Apparently, now, Rose wants to stay home and watch the _Titanic_ with me." He rolled his eyes. "She says she's never seen it in all these years, but she really, really, wants to. And she says she needs to hunt before going shopping again—she needs the energy." Emmett paused. "Apparently."

I swallowed. "Why don't you guys go bowling with Jasper and Alice then? They won't mind." I went over to him and punched him on the arm playfully, but he winced a little at how hard I had actually hit him. "You're always up for a little friendly competition, right?" I waggled my eyebrows encouragingly.

"Of course I am!" he said defensively. "But Rose obviously doesn't want to go _bowling_ on a Friday night!"

I rolled my eyes as if to say, you-baby. "And Rose wears the pants in your relationship, does she now?"

"Well... I mean... Maybe..." He scratched his head, and Rosalie appeared behind him. She was about to tap him on the shoulder when he threw his arms in the air and burst out. "Bella, you're right!" He was looking at the ceiling, not me, so he didn't see me signalling him to shut up. "I'm strong and independent, and I don't have to listen to what Rosalie says to me! You're _absolutely _right. I don't know why I haven't seen this before. IF I WANT TO GO BOWLING, I'M GOING TO GO BOWLING!"

Rosalie was looking at the back of Emmett's head like it was a slice of pizza. Then, slowly, she tapped him on the shoulder. "Emmett—please go upstairs and set up the movie. I'll be there in a second."

"Okay, okay." His head down, he stomped up the stairs to start the movie.

Shoot. Shoot. _Shoot_.

"FINE!" I screamed at both of them, glad Jasper had already left. "FINE! BE LIKE THAT! BUT I'M GOING TO THE MOVIES!"

Rose looked like she was about to say something else to me, but I cut her off. "AND THAT'S WHERE I'LL BE! THE MOVIES!" And with those last words, I grabbed my coat and stalked outside to my truck.

***

I had told Edward _I _would pick_ him_ up. He hadn't asked why—which was good. I didn't want to make up an excuse for, "My sister thinks it's too dangerous for me to be around you because of how good you smell."

He had also given me his address, and, as my truck chugged along, down the road, I couldn't help but think, _Am I supposed to knock on the door? Or do I just honk the horn and wait in the truck? Doesn't a _guy_ usually the one to go and knock on the door? Especially if they are the one that offered to take the girl out? And I don't even know where we're going! And I'm supposed to be the one driving?_

If it was possible for me to start hyperventilating right then, I would have.

Just as the rain began to pitter-patter on the windows, I spotted his house. It was probably about average-sized—two stories tall—painted completely white. There were window boxes almost everywhere that were filled with too many types of flowers than I could count. In the front yard there was a blue tarp covering a small patch of land. I figured it must be a garden, and the tarp was there to keep the rain away.

_I should go to the door_, a part of me said.

But then another part said, _No, you should honk the horn and hope he hears you._

_Go. To. The. Door. _

_Honk. The. Horn. _

Luckily, I didn't have to do either. The white door opened at that exact moment, and Edward stepped out onto his wraparound porch in a pair of jeans and a coat. After he waved to somebody inside the house, he shut the door behind him and made his way over to my truck. His hair was already soaked when he opened the passenger door.

"Hey, Bella," he greeted me, sliding in. "Ready?"

"Yeah." I put my hands on the steering wheel, not doing anything. "So... um... where are we going again?"

He smiled. "I thought about going to a restaurant, but, then I thought, that's somewhat of a cliché for Friday nights, right?"

I blinked at him. "Okay..."

"So I thought, what about, glow-in-the-dark bowling?"

"NO!" I said before I could help myself.

Edward frowned at me. "You don't like glow-in-the-dark bowling?"

"Well, I _do_!" I laughed nervously. "Of COURSE I do! Who DOESN'T? But... I mean..." I ran my fingers through my hair, forgetting I had it up in a high ponytail, and it all came unravelled. "I just..."

"We can go to a restaurant if you want..."

"NO!" that came out before I could stop myself, too. "I mean, I already ate. So..." I lifted my hands up, and then put them back down on the steering wheel. "So yeah."

"So do you want to go bowling, then?"

"Yes," I squeaked weakly. "Sure. It'll be fun."

**A/N: I know this chapter's short, but I only did that because I want what's coming next to be a chapter all on it's own. =) **


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, before I get on with the story, I just wanted to let you guys know that, considering I have my own stories to write, my homework, AND the other fic I'm currently working on, I won't be updating as much as I normally do. I'm going to try to get a new chapter up every second/third/fourth day. **

"These shoes are tight," I muttered to nobody in particular, as I laced up the rental bowling shoes. I could see Alice and Jasper—they were on the bowling lane that was situated on the very far left.

"Hey, Bel—"

"Shh!" I shushed him immediately. "_Don't_ say my name!"

Edward looked confused. "Why?"

_Because my sister has supernatural hearing and if you say my name then she might hear you, and she doesn't want me hanging out with you, because you're a human and your blood smells enchanting. _

"Because I—hey are those slushies?" I pointed behind the counter, where two slush machines were. One was blue, and one was read. "I think I'll get one of those!"

I had on Edward's coat, just in case Alice or Jasper looked in my direction and saw _my_ coat. I'd convinced him in the truck that my coat was not warm enough, and that I was _very, very_ cold.

Edward bought both of us a slush. He gave me red and kept the blue for himself.

For a few seconds, I just stared at it. Hell.

"OHMIGOD!" I said, throwing the cup into the ground. Red liquid splattered all over the grey carpet, the bottom of my jeans, and the tips of our bowling shoes. "Jeez, I'm really sorry, it's just those things are so slippery and I sort of tripped and, well, I'm a complete klutz."

Edward stared at his bowling shoes, and then looked back up at me. "It's okay. I don't really like the blue flavour anyways." He shoved his cup in my hand. "You can have mine."

Well I couldn't smash _this_ one, too.

I put my mouth on the straw and took the tiniest sip. _Ew. Ew. Ew._ I forced the liquid back through the straw, making sure he didn't see me doing it. "Oh that's delicious!" I said.

"We're in lane fifteen," Edward told me, pointing to the lane beside Alice and Jasper. "That one."

"NO!" I yelled. "I—I mean, I can't go in lane fifteen."

"Uh... why not?"

"Because... there's... um..." I gestured to the one on the opposite side of the big room. "How about that one? Besides, it's closer to the concession area, so if we want to get some fries or something, then we won't have to walk _all the way down there_ and make our feet sore."

Edward blinked at me, but he went back to the counter to change our lane number.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I sat down on a chair and put my head in my hands. This was a mess. A total and complete mess. I should have said, "Why don't we go to the movies instead, because there's something I really want to see"? Why did I agree to come here?

I didn't think it could get any worse when Emmett and Rosalie walked in the front door. Before I could jump and hide in the washroom or something, Rosalie spotted me. "Bella!" she said, and I looked at Edward quickly to make sure she hadn't heard her. He hadn't—he was still changing the lane number.

"Hi!" I said, walking over to them. I couldn't let Edward see me talking to them. "I just... came to bowl! To... uh... join Alice and Jasper! There was nothing playing at the movie theatre!"

Rosalie threw back her hair. "I decided I didn't want to watch the _Titanic_."

"The DVD didn't work—"

"Well I didn't want to watch it in the first place, okay?" She cut Emmett off, and then turned back to me. "It sounded so _dreary_, anyway."

"Right. Well... um... How about you two go and get your rental shoes, and I'll go meet you over there." I motioned to Jasper and Alice. "I just gotta... um... well _you know_!"

They gave me a few did-you-hit-your-head-too-hard-again stares before going to pick out their shoes. Just as they were left, Edward turned around to face me with a smile on his face. "Okay, we got the lane you wanted—lane number three. Want to start?"

"Okay," I whispered, beginning to sneak off to lane three.

"Why are you whispering?" Edward asked me just as we were passing Emmett and Rosalie's backs.

"I didn't realize I was," I said, still in a very low voice. "Now come on."

The two of us ran to the lane. I programmed our names into the computer-thingie as fast as possible, and then began to hop from one foot to another. "That slush is going through me. I need to go pee." And, without waiting for his reply, I dashed through the people to the other side of the bowling place, where the four of them were waiting for me.

"Bella!" Alice exclaimed when she saw me. She enveloped me in a hug. "I knew you would come! I saw it!"

"Oh, really?" I questioned rhetorically, more than grateful that she hadn't seen who I had come _with_. "Um... cool. Now let's get this game started!"

For some reason, Jasper had put my name in the machine last. So I had to wait as patiently as possible while each one of them went and took their turns. I was just lucky that each one of them got a strike, and it didn't take very long for it to get to me.

I threw the blue ball down the lane and, once all the pins were down, I turned back to the four of them. "I'll be right back," I informed them before rushing back to Edward.

"Sorry for the wait," I said to him. "Those slushes, eh?"

"Yeah... but..." He shook his head. "Never mind. Let's just start."

My name was first this time, so I picked up the bowling ball and hurled it down the lane with as much force as I could manage. At the very end of the lane—where the pins fell down—I was sure that the wood splintered a little, but I didn't let on. "Whoa," Edward said. "Good strike."

"Thanks." I smiled.

He threw his ball, and got a gutter. I swallowed and tried not to look up at the clock. How long had it been since I left the rest of them? Was it my turn by now? What if they came looking for me?

On his second try he knocked down four of the pins.

And on his last he knocked the rest down.

"Good job!" I said, my grin nearly ear-to-ear. "Now I'll be right back. I have to get some fries."

"Hey, but it's your turn—"

"Take it for me!" I called to him from over my shoulder.

As I ran back to Alice and Jasper and Emmett and Rosalie, I was panicking. What if they had seen me bowling? What if they heard me telling Edward good job or something like that? What would they do?

"Sorry, guys." I sat down in a plastic seat beside Alice as Emmett kicked the bowling ball with the side of his foot down the lane. All the pins fell down, and I got up to take my turn. I didn't bother doing anything fancy—I just rolled it, getting all the pins anyways. "Be right back."

I ran back to Edward. I was half-way there when I remembered I had said I was going to get fries—so then I had to stand in a long line-up, waiting to get a small fries.

"Back!" I said to him, sitting down. I saw he had taken my turn twice for me. "Sorry 'bout that. You _would not believe the lines_!"

"It's okay." He took a fry from the little checkered basket it had come in and ate it. "You want to take my turn for me?"

"It's alright. You can go."

And the rest of the evening went by like that. I ran to Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice. I got a strike. I ran back to Edward, took my turn, got a strike. I made up some stupid excuse to why I had to leave. Repeat until night was over.

Once both groups of people had finished two games, I was really, really exhausted from running around all night.

As I plopped down in the chair beside Edward, sighing, I said, "Sorry about tonight. I just... it was like... I don't know. But I don't want you to get the wrong impression or anything. I'm not usually such a... a... seriously weird freak."

He smirked at me. "You weren't weird."

"No, I—" I stopped and looked at him. "Hardy-har-har. But, anyhoo, I'm really sorry about it all."

"It's probably my fault, anyway. I mean—a _bowling _alley." Edward laughed. "So... lame."

"No it isn't. I just—I don't know. Maybe next week we could go see a movie or something. Maybe it'll turn out better."

"Yeah. Maybe it will."

"Or maybe it won't."

I froze. Oh no. Oh _please, please no_.

"Hey, you're Rosalie, right?" Edward stood up out of his seat. "Bella's sister?"

No. No.

"Bella," I heard her say from behind me. I felt like getting up and running away. "What do you think you're doing?"


	8. Chapter 7

"I'm not angry. I'm just... surprised."

I looked at Alice. Then I looked down at the floor. "It was just... I don't know. I don't even know. I just... _needed_ to go."

"But you just went hunting, Bells."

"Not that way _needed_." I dug deep for the right word. "It just wasn't because of his blood." When she gave me an incredulous stare, I just sighed. "Okay. Whatever. Fine. It's a _little_ because of his blood. But not completely."

Alice sighed and looked straight at the road.

"I said I was sorry," I said very, very weakly.

"I know."

"I don't know what happened and—"

"But do you promise me _now_?" Alice stared intently at me from the passenger's seat. "Do you?"

"I don't see why I can't." I leaned back in my seat and clenched the steering wheel so hard, it almost snapped into two pieces. "Nothing went horribly wrong, like you probably thought it would, did it?"

"Bella, it's just I—I have a reason for this, I do, trust me, but I just—I can't let you get _hurt_. I can't let our family get _hurt_. And you heard what Rosalie said at the bowling alley, even if you don't wanna believe it." She shut her eyes. "You're probably only drawn to him because of two things: one, his blood."

"I know, Alice. I—"

"And, two, the fact that he looks like Chris."

I sucked in a deep breath. "That _is not_ why, Alice."

"Bella..."

"It is _not_ why!" I cried, even though a little pang inside of me told me otherwise. "It is _not_ why!"

Alice, looking alarmed, nodded twice. "Okay. Maybe it isn't. Maybe Rose was wrong."

"Yes." My hands unclenched the steering wheel slowly. "She's just wrong."

Gosh. I was _insane_.

Neither of us said one more thing as we drove home. I had dropped Edward off a few minutes ago—Alice had been sitting in the back, then. But now she was in the front, and the whole ride was just... well... _awkward_.

As I pulled up in front of the house, and Alice hopped out from the car, I said, "I think I'm going to go for a drive." It was sudden, but I knew I couldn't go into that house yet. Carlisle and Esme and Jasper and Rosalie would be there—all knowing what happened tonight. I wasn't ready to face them. Not yet.

"A drive?" Alice asked suspiciously.

"I swear—I'm not going to see... Edward," I said. "I pinky promise." I stuck out my pinky, and, when she shook mine, I put the truck back into drive. "And I'll be back before midnight."

"Good! Because I think Rose and Emmett are watching the _Titanic_." She rolled her eyes. "Rose said something about the DVD finally working."

"Have fun," I said mockingly before flooring the pedal—creating a _lot_ of exhaust from the back of my ancient truck. Alice waved it away with her hand before turning to go inside.

Once I knew she was inside, I breathed a sigh of relief. Now I could _really_ be alone.

And get that one last thing on The List done for good (so what if he _was_ evil or whatever? He had still been my friend, right? And I was going to get that list done if it killed me).

_Take a Drive in the Forest Late, Late at Night_.

_I'm screwed_, I couldn't help but think. _I wonder how long it'll take Rose to speak to me again. That one time I used her favourite scrunchie she didn't talk to me for a whole month._

I guessed the verdict would be at least a year for hanging around with a human.

I switched on the radio as my truck chugged down the narrow road surrounded by trees. My head bobbed along to Britney Spears, and my hair was flying everywhere. I guess that that was why I didn't notice the shadows that were moving outside the windows.

"_OOPS, I DID IT AGAIN_!" I was singing along, now. "_I PLAYED WITH YOUR HEART! GOT LOST IN THE GAME! OH BABY, BABY_!"

The radio was so loud I couldn't hear myself think. I couldn't even hear my truck making it's usual weird noises.

"_YOU THINK I'M IN LOVE_!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

That was when the truck broke down.

It just... _stopped_. Like _that_. It was sudden; so sudden that, since I wasn't wearing my seat belt, my head bashed into the steering wheel. It probably would have totally knocked me out—if I was human.

I frowned and hit the dashboard of the car, like that would start it up again. When nothing happened, I sighed and opened my door, getting out and around to the hood of the vehicle faster than normal. For some strange reason, I had a bad feeling inside of me. Usually I wouldn't be afraid of the woods around eleven at night. I mean, what did I have to be afraid of? But, today, I had a feeling.

A bad, bad feeling.

Not even the crickets were chirping. Not even the leaves were rustling. The only noise I could hear was my feet crunching over the leaves and the squeak of the hood popping open.

Oh, who was I kidding? I had no idea how to fix a car. I would just have to leave it here until tomorrow when—

Something moved.

It was in the bush beside me. It was so fast, a bit of dust fell to the ground where it had moved, and some of the bare twigs on the bush fell to the ground. Quickly, I looked around. To my right, my left, above me, and even below me. Nothing was there.

_You have no reason to be scared_, I told myself. _What's could be out there?_

Frankly, I didn't want to answer that question.

The bush on my other side moved, and more twigs fell to the ground. This time I pretended I didn't notice. I couldn't show fear. I just had to look confident, unafraid, and completely ready if someone was going to—to attack me or something like that.

And then, as if on cue, it began to rain.

Swallowing hard, I slammed the hood of my truck and rushed inside, locking all the doors. Not that that would help any. But it gave me a tiny, tiny, flicker of security.

The rain made loud pitter-patter sounds above my head. Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled and lightning struck. _This would be such a good time for baseball, if it weren't so damn creepy_, I thought.

I revved the ignition a few times, but, still, my truck went nowhere.

I would have to walk—erm, _run_—back. Out in the open. Where anybody could clearly see it was me.

I opened my door again and the canopy of leaves above me was no shelter from the rain. It automatically drenched me from head to foot, and, as I broke into a run—a run faster than any car could possibly go—thoughts whirled through my head. Why did I have such a bad feeling? There was obviously nothing to have a bad feeling about, right? I was a vampire—with shielding powers. _I had nothing to be afraid of_.

I mentally pushed my shield around me, and felt even more security as I ran on, the leaves crunching under my feet. There. Nobody could catch me now. Nobody—

Then everything happened at once.

Something was pushing back at me. Mentally, I mean. And then my shield shattered. I could feel it. I let out an ear-piercing scream—something was definitely out there—but didn't slow down by a second. If anything, I made my legs go faster and harder until I was faster than Alice and Jasper and Emmett put together.

The leaves and bushes around me were moving faster, now, like someone was running beside me. Except, I couldn't see that someone. They were invisible to my eyes—my supernatural-seeing eyes.

Twigs breaking. Leaves crunching. Rain pouring. Thunder vibrating. Lightning flashing.

Someone saying, "Good to see you again, Bella."

A blur appeared beside me. First it was only an image I couldn't make out exactly. A speck of blue in the background of darkness. But then my eyes adjusted. And then I saw who was standing beside me. Bronze hair, deep red eyes, darker than the color of blood, that somehow even shone and shimmered in the blackness. His posture said confident, unafraid—exactly what I was supposed to be. But, truth be told, I was the exact opposite.

He was having absolutely no troubles keeping up with me, and I knew at once. He wasn't truly dead. He hadn't died. He was standing right here. Right beside me.

"You're looking pale," he said with a grin that wasn't anything along the lines of happiness. "Like you just saw a ghost."

_Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod_.

"Did you get my note?" he asked me, still keeping up with me. "Judging by where we are now—I'm guessing that you've completed it, haven't you?"

_A trap_, the thought went through me before he could even finish talking. _That last thing on the list—it was a trap! Gosh, I'm such a total _idiot_!_

"So, Bella, how have you been?" Then he stuck out his arm in front of me. I knocked into it—it was harder than a rock—and fell backwards on the ground. "I've heard you have a new boyfriend?"

"And I hear you've been up to no good." I got up and pushed him backwards with all my force into a tree. As his back crushed into it, it wiggled a little, and probably would have fell over if he hadn't recovered so quickly.

"Maybe," he said blankly, and then pushed _me_ into a tree.

I stayed on the ground this time, and shut my eyes to concentrate. I concentrated as hard as possible, until I could see the shield's boundaries around me. They didn't go too far out—but that didn't matter. It was a shield all the less.

He outstretched his hands and instantly the shield shattered.

_He's too powerful_, I thought.

Hell.


	9. Chapter 8

I saw Chris begin to outstretch his arms again, but then there was another blur, and the next thing I knew he was on the ground with Emmett and Jasper both pinning him down. Alice was standing behind Jasper with a grim look on her face.

"You're a jerk, you know that, Chris?" Alice asked. "First, you pretend to be dead. Then you block out my vision. DO YOU KNOW HOW MAD THAT MADE ME? DO YOU? I HAVE NEVER BEEN _BLOCKED_ BEFORE! THAT WAS COMPLETELY OUTRAGES, OKAY?"

Carlisle came up behind Alice, followed by Rosalie, and then Esme.

"Sorry, man." Emmett shrugged. "But we're gonna have to kill you now. And, like, for good."

"Wait!" Carlisle took a step up. "We can't—what about those newborns?"

"We'll kill them, too," Emmett said like it was obvious.

"Do you know where they are?"

For that one, Emmett had no reply.

I was still sitting on the ground, with my back against the tree, my head swivelling from Carlisle to Chris to Alice.

"Okay—but can I _please_ slap him or something first?" Alice asked. "_Nobody_ blocks out my visions and gets away with it."

Despite the completely dangerous and horrible situation, I felt like laughing.

Chris, who hadn't said a word since being tackled, rolled his eyes at us. "You're all idiots."

For a few seconds, all of us stared at him. Rosalie walked over to him, and, with her large stiletto heel, she stepped on his face. Then she calmly walked back beside Carlisle.

"We are _not_ idiots," I said firmly in a raspy voice. "_You're_ the idiot. You're the one who came back here, thinking that you're _all that_, when, really, you're not." I snorted. "Seriously. There're five of us. There's one of you."

Rosalie nodded in agreement. "Do you _practice_ being stupid, or were you born with it?"

"Rose!" Esme gasped. "No need to be like _that_..."

"Yes, in fact, there is a need, because he's insulted all of us, and, now, he thinks he can waltz back here with an army of newborns and that he's allowed to kill Bella just because the two of them had a thing. So, you see, he's absolutely brainless."

"We did _not_ have a thing!" I protested.

Rose rolled her eyes. "_Sure_."

"WE DIDN'T!"

"Then why did you complete my list for me?" Chris asked with a smile that was not a friendly one.

"I DIDN'T!"

"What list?" Alice asked.

"No list." I got up from the ground and sighed. "_Anyways_..." I knelt down beside Chris, knowing that Jasper and Emmett were able to keep him down. "Where are these newborns, Chris?"

He smiled again. "What newborns?"

"Okay, look, you complete bonehead." Rosalie knelt beside him, too. I'd hardly ever heard her sound so angry. "If you don't tell us, then we're gonna have to kill you. And I mean it. We won't let you off with just ripping your throat apart and your head off your shoulders. We'll throw your big air-filled head in the fire, along with the rest of you."

"No, _you_ look, blondie—"

Clearly, Rosalie had heard enough. "DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME BLONDIE AGAIN!" she screeched before lunging at his throat.

Esme reached out and grabbed her before she could make it.

I said, "Just tell us, Chris."

He wiggled a little under Jasper's grip—not like he was trying to get out, but like he was getting comfortable in the mud. "Kill me, then. Does it look like I care? But it won't stop the newborns."

"HAH!" I jumped up from the dirt. "SO YOU ADMIT THERE ARE NEWBORNS!"

He ignored me. "It won't stop them from coming, now will it?"

"Maybe it won't, but it'll sure stop _you_ from... from..." I clenched my jaw. "It'll get rid of you, that's for sure."

Chris just shrugged a little and smirked. "So what are you waiting for?"

He couldn't be serious. He couldn't actually _let_ us kill him, could he? I mean, I had thought after we threatened to kill him (for good) he'd start begging us not to and automatically tell us where the newborns were. But now he was acting like he didn't care if we did or not.

But he had to _care_...

This just made me madder. "You... you..." And then I spat every swear word I knew out at him.

"Bella! Calm down!" That was Alice. "Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out."

"Yes, Bella." Chris raised his left eyebrow. "Breathe out."

That was when it happened.

Something went through the air—like he was pushing out an invisible shield or something. And for a few moments, all of us looked at him, utterly confused. But then the shield swiftly gained momentum and it shook through the air like thunder, and a bright white light emerged from him. The light pushed me backwards and onto my butt, and I heard the others screaming things at one another. I couldn't make out what, exactly. I was too confused to hear much at all.

"HE'S RUNNING..." I heard Carlisle yell.

The white light faded a little, and I could make out the shapes and silhouettes of the objects around me. Almost everybody was on the ground, too, except one bulky shadow—Emmett, obviously—and another not-as-bulky one, which I was guessing was Carlisle or Jasper.

"GET BACK HERE CHRIS!" Rosalie, somewhere far, far, behind me, screeched. "I JUST FELL IN THE DIRT IN MY NEW JEANS AND NOW YOU'RE THE ONE THAT'S GOING TO HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM!" Then I heard her gasp. "AND LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY MANICURE!"

He was... getting away...

No... if he got away...

I jumped up and followed the two figures running through the forest. As my vision slowly came back, and the white light disappeared, I could see I was running behind Carlisle and Emmett. Somewhere ahead of them, I saw another blur.

Couldn't let him get away.

I pushed my legs harder and faster until I was past Emmett and Carlisle, and was just feet behind Chris. Maybe we wouldn't reach him, but we could always follow him until—

_BOOM_.

I screamed loudly—which was kind of weird since I shouldn't have been afraid of a _boom_—as I flew backwards, another white light flashing in my eyes. I knocked into Emmett, who crashed into Carlisle, who flew into a tree, which fell over into the forest ground.

And by the time Emmett pushed me off of him, Chris was gone. _He's probably in Tahiti or something by now_, I thought glumly.

Carlisle brushed himself off while getting up. "We have to find him. And we have to find him soon." He turned to Emmett. "You and Rose and Alice go home—Alice will probably have a vision about this sometime soon. In the mean time, you and Rosalie search recent missing people and animal attacks on the Internet. Make sure the city is one with a big forest—big enough to hide a whole new clan of newborns."

"That narrows it down," Emmett muttered, walking away.

"Let's see how far his trail goes," Carlisle said to me, Jasper and Esme. "Let's go."

As I followed the rest of them deeper into the forest, pulling my hair back into a ponytail while rubbing my temples, more thoughts than before went through my head.

_Chris had newborns. _

_He tried to kill me._

_He wasn't dead. _

_We didn't know where him, or the newborns were. _

_He could be anywhere in the world. _

_So could the newborns. _

I sighed.

The only thing good that had come out of this was the fact everyone had forgotten about Edward and me.

**A/N: What'd ya guys think? A little short, I guess—I know. But, yeah. Anyways, I'm trying to update as much as I can =D **


	10. Chapter 9

On Monday at lunch, I didn't go to the cafeteria. If I had gone there, and then left, they would have gotten all suspicious.

So I just went straight to the biology lab.

Strangely enough, though, as I was walking through the halls, I couldn't smell him. I couldn't smell the enchanting aroma.

And, when I go to the biology lab, and looked through the little window, he wasn't there. I frowned and stood on my tiptoes just to be one hundred percent sure. But I still couldn't smell him. I still couldn't see him.

I opened the door and took two steps inside. All I could see was textbooks and microscopes and pieces of paper. No Edward.

He was here today, though. I _knew_ he was. He had been in second period with me.

So I walked back to the cafeteria, wondering if maybe he decided to eat in the cafeteria today. I mean, the only reason he had been in the biology lab in the first place was because he didn't have anyone to eat with, right? So a few days after the first day of school, he should be eating with his new friends... right?

I got into the cafeteria and began looking around, past all of the tables. He wasn't with the jocks. Or the people who always studied instead of ate their lunch. He wasn't with those girly girls—clearly—or with the people with the long black hair and facial piercings.

Still frowning, I turned my attention to my table.

Well hell.

I felt my eyes widen as I took in everybody at the table.

But just as I was about to get out of there, Rosalie's eyes looked up at me. When she saw me, her eyes turned into slits and she lifted up an arm, waving me over.

Too late.

"Bella." Edward stood up in the seat beside Alice. "We were wondering where you were."

"Yeah, Bella," Rosalie muttered. "We were all very worried."

I swallowed hard. "Oh... well..." I laughed nervously and sat beside Edward. "I was just talking to my teacher after class... about... the homework." I paused. "I got stuck on this one part."

"Of course you did." Rosalie put her head in her hands and glared at me. "You know, _Bells_, we're so glad Edward is sitting with us today." Her glares went from me, to Alice. "Alice saw him in here looking for you, and asked him to sit down with us."

I looked at Alice and mouthed to her, "_What_?" considering Friday night she had told me, quite seriously and specifically, to _stay away from him_.

She mouthed back, "Changed my mind," and then turned to Edward and started talking to him about something I couldn't fully understand. Chemistry, or something like that.

"Aren't you hungry?" Edward asked me suddenly as he took a bite out of his Italian sandwich. "I haven't seen you eat _anything_ today."

"Big breakfast," I said.

"Ah." He nodded as if this explained everything.

"So..." Emmett took in the awkward silence that was lingering over us. "The weather's nice today, eh?"

Edward looked up. "I don't really like the rain. Cold and wet—not my thing."

I snorted. Alice muffled her laugh. Emmett and Jasper's eyes crinkled in amusement. Rosalie glared some more.

Edward didn't notice. He took another bite out of his sandwich, not realizing that he was the only one eating.

The rest of lunch was spoke throughout those same awkward silences. We probably would have talked about the Chris thing, or something like that, such as where he could be and how many newborns Alice had seen, exactly, but we couldn't. Of course we couldn't talk about evil, bloodthirsty, out-to-get-you vampires in front of Edward.

So did the rest of the day. Edward was in my sixth period class, but not in any other afternoon blocks, so I had a lot of time to talk to Alice about her changing her mind about Edward.

"I ran into him in the hallway," Alice told me in last period. "And we started talking—and _I _resisted him. And he's actually not that bad of a guy it's just... his looks..." She paused for a second. "Well yeah. He's a good looking guy. But... you know what I mean."

I didn't see how this was a 'but' about Edward, but I nodded anyways, wanting to get on Alice's good side today. "Yeah. I know. But I guess Rosalie still doesn't see it that way?"

She shook her head and answered question four. "Nope. She still see's him what he actually is—a danger. To everybody."

I sighed and put my head in my hand and my chin on my desktop. No matter what I did, Rosalie would probably never see it my way. Not even if he became a vampire—WHICH HE WOULDN'T, because that'd be... outrages. I couldn't let someone I cared about become one of _us_, damned forever. He'd be happier in a regular human life. He'd be happier without me. And probably better off.

The last few minutes of the day went by slower than usual. Mr. Hollish was up by the map of the world, saying something about the similarities between the Renaissance and Medieval times in Europe. He must have thought we cared.

After class, Edward caught me in the halls.

"Next Friday—dinner?"

Dinner.

"Umm—I have plans for dinner Friday." Technically, this wasn't a lie. Maybe I'd go hunting. "But... we could... do something else. Like... um... hmm..."

We stood there for a few seconds, each of us thinking of something else to do in Forks on a Friday night. Truth be told, there really wasn't that much to think about. But, somehow, Edward came up with the worst possible thing.

"La Push beach!"

"NO!" I practically cried. Then I regained myself. "I mean... _I can't_ go there because... um... well, you see, I can't. They have a restraining order on me."

Oh. Yeah. Really smooth, Bella. A _restraining order_.

He smiled a smile that was somewhere in between amusement and astonishment. "A _restraining order_? On _you_? What did you do—if you don't mind me asking, of course."

_Think_, I told myself. _Think fast_!

"I—uh, well, I..." I chewed my upper lip. "I..."

Thankfully, at that moment, Alice rounded the corner. "Bella!" She skipped over towards us. "I've been looking all over for you—Rosalie is waiting in the car." When Edward wasn't looking, she frowned at me and mouthed, "_Restraining order_?"

"_I couldn't think_." I shrugged.

She rolled her eyes at me.

"Well, Rosalie isn't very patient these days—so I better get a-going."

_A-going_. Jeez, I couldn't get any cheesier, could I?

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Edward said.

I nodded before walking away.

When we both were out of hearing range, Alice began laughing. "Restraining order? _A-going_? What's wrong with you today? You're usually not so..." She stopped for a second to think. "Speechless? I don't know the right word."

I let out a long breath. "Neither do I."

***

"Where _were you guys_?" Rosalie snapped as Alice and I climbed into the back of Emmett's jeep. The only reason I had accepted a ride from her this morning was because the tires on my truck needed it's tires changed, and, right now, it was in the shop, and Alice was already riding with her. "We've been waiting for at least ten minutes."

"Well then what are you waiting for?" I asked. "Let's go."

Scowling, Rosalie turned back around and faced the windshield. Emmett started the jeep.

Emmett drove faster than normal; I guessed he could sense the tension between all of us, too. So when we got home, I rushed upstairs to my room, locking the door behind me. Why I would look a door, I wasn't quite sure. Anyone who wanted to get in could get past a lock easily.

I looked at myself in the mirror.

"Okay," I said to myself. "You can do this. You're not... weak. You're strong. You're independent. You can prove to the others that—" I stopped talking, realizing I hadn't just said one honest thing.

Well, about the weak part.

"You're strong," I said again. "_STRONG_! You're better than—you're better than Emmett, if you try! You outran him the other night, remember?"

Yes. There. You see? I was strong. I could do this. Anyone who could outrun Emmett could easily defeat a pack of newborns...

...Or not.

I sighed at myself. "You're an idiot!" I said to the mirror. "An _idiot_! A _coward_! That's exactly what you are!"

So, before I could hesitate, I jumped out the window and into the forest. I could do this. I _had_ to. I could prove to everybody else that this whole mess may be my fault—but I could definitely solve it, just as well as I had started it. It would be easy, anyways. Carlisle and Jasper were already on the hunt, looking. But I had The List. I had more evidence... and stuff.

And, without another glance back at the house, I began looking.

**A/N: Ahh I know I haven't updated for a few days. =( I think I'm going to post one more chapter by Wednesday, though, because I finished this school project and—**

**Kay, never mind, none of you actually care about my school projects, do you? So, point is, I'll try to update by Wednesday.**

'**Nuf said. **


	11. Chapter 10

His track wasn't too hard to find. Plus, when his smell kind of trailed off, all I had to do was follow Carlisle and Jasper's, since they were also attempting to follow Chris.

The scent led to the edge of the forest, and then it turned in an entirely different direction towards the town.

I bit the inside of my cheeks. This trail couldn't be real. Of course not. Why would Chris go into the _town_ when he could be going back to his newborns, getting ready to take over the world or something like that?

Unless...

No. But he couldn't be doing _that_. That just wouldn't be _sane_!

Well he wasn't sane either but still...

I whipped open my cell phone to dial Jasper's number—to ask them where they were, and if they were having much luck with the hunt—but there was no signal, for some reason. I went back into the forest, climbed up a tree, and tried for a few bars again, but, still, nothing.

Shoot.

I scrabbled my way back down—I wasn't the best climber in the family—and sighed. I wasn't in the mood to run back to the house and get Emmett or Alice or even Rosalie to come and help me—and I was _definitely _not in the mood to run around, looking for some kind of signal.

I would just have to find Carlisle and Jasper and Esme on my own.

So I did.

I could smell, very faintly, Chris's scent, and it was going in the same direction as the rest of theirs. This was very helpful, because the four smells put together were nearly overwhelming.

When it led deeper into town, I tried to say on the outskirts by all the trees, to make myself look less conspicuous. Less noticeable.

I walked on for about twenty more minutes through streets and alleys, following the smell as best as I could. But then I reached a three-way stop. Something just... disappeared. I could still smell Jasper—and Carlisle—and Esme, for that matter. But it was like the last one had just _poofed_; gone missing,

I blinked and looked around. Chris's smell had been getting so tiny I barely could sniff it out—but now, even though it had been the faintest smell, I could still tell it had disappeared.

What the?

I turned in other directions and breathed in the air, but even then I couldn't get anything. Frowning, I opened up my cell phone again. Maybe now I could get some kind of signal?

A feeling of triumph washed over me when I saw I had two and a half bars. Quickly, I dialled in Alice's cell phone number and listened to it ring and ring and ring. No answer. I tried Emmett's. I listened to the stupid dial tone for about five minutes before giving up. Finally, I tried Rosalie's. And thirty seconds later, when her answering machine came on, I still had nothing.

That didn't make any sense. They had all been home when I left... and even if they weren't; I _did_ call their cell phones, didn't I?

Knitting my brows together, I decided I would just call Jasper.

Thankfully, he actually picked up.

"Hullo?" His voice rung in my ear.

"Where are you guys?" I asked him, immediately getting to the point.

"Bella?"

"Yes, who else?"

"I dunno, it could've been Alice or Emmett or Rosalie or—"

"WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?"

He paused. "I'm not quite sure."

I paused too. "What'd you mean, you're not quite sure?"

"I don't know. We were just running through this national park or something, following the trail, when suddenly, the trail stopped, and we weren't in the forest anymore and..." His voice trailed off. "It's just so _confusing_."

I blinked, took the phone away from my ear, and stared at it for a few seconds. _Huh??_ "What do you mean _confusing_? How is it _confusing_?"

"We just walked into this forest, and then it was like, what the heck, and..."

"Put Carlisle on the phone!"

I heard a few seconds of static before Carlisle's voice said, "Bella?"

"Where are you? What are you all _doing_? What did he mean, _confusing_?"

Carlisle was silent, just for a few moments. "I honestly don't know. We were in Seattle—but then... we _weren't_. We were in some forest, and, I can't find which way is north or east or west or even south—and the forest seems to be _huge_. We've been running for miles... and nothing."

I blinked again. "How did you end up in a forest?"

"We walked into it, of course—but then the way out was just... _gone_."

_Gone_?

"You do know you're not making any sense, right?"

"Bella, I have to—JASPER, WHERE DID—"

Then the line went dead.

***

They were lost in a forest.

In a forest somewhere.

Which, honestly, didn't narrow it down _at all_.

I sighed and put my head in my hands.

My life was _so_ over—

"Bella? Is that you?"

My head shot up.

"Edward?" I tilted my head. "How did you—know I was here?"

He paused. "Well I sorta went to your house an hour ago, and Alice said you went for a run—and I was about to give up on looking for you when I saw you. My house is just down... there." He pointed down a street. "Remember?"

"Oh. Yes," I lied. Then I stood up, quickly. If there was ever a time to tell Edward he was better off without me—that we shouldn't be friends—we _couldn't_ be friends—he was opening his mouth and words were coming out.

"So have you decided yet?"

I frowned. "Decided on what?"

"What we're doing over the weekend?"

_Now's a perfect time to tell him, Bella_, I said to myself. _Tell him right now. Tell him right now that you can't be friends. Tell him it's too dangerous—but just don't tell him why. He won't even understand, and, besides, a few years and you'll never ever see him again, right?_

Taking a deep breath, I said, "Look, Edward... I..." I paused. "I don't think—"

That was when a sudden gust of wind came, and the ball cap that Edward was wearing flew into the street, a few metres away from us. He looked at me. "Sorry. Just—just as second." He walked away towards the street where the hat had flown.

I sat down on the grass and brushed off my jeans, all the while watching Edward pick up the hat. When he came back, I would have to tell him we couldn't see each other anymore. I would have to tell him we couldn't be more than friends—or even just friends. It was best for him, best for me, best for everyone in my family. And, for that matter, _his_ family.

Edward was walking back towards me, now, from the other side of the street.

A sound suddenly came from the other side of the street. It sounded like a car—a car that was completely out of control. I turned to face the sound, and saw that it was, indeed, a car completely out of control, coming straight down the street. Straight for Edward. He stopped in his tracks, looking too stunned and too surprised to move. All he was doing was staring at the car as it slipped on the ice, its horn honking loudly, snow spraying up from the tires in its attempt to break on the slippery surface.

"LOOK OUT!" I screamed at Edward, but he didn't seem to hear me. His eyes were fixed on the oncoming car, his hands at his sides, one of which was holding his hat. "EDWARD, LOOK OUT!" I screamed again, but, still, he didn't move.

So I lunged.

I wasn't thinking—it was just an impulse—my actions acting before I could think. My legs were moving fast, faster than any human could possibly move, and I dove, my arms outstretched, to push him out of the way. When my hands came into contact with him, I pushed as hard as I could, and he flew across the street, into the dead tree in the front yard of someone's house. Luckily, the car swerved out of the way before it could run over me.

A few yards after it passed me, it spun around and stopped in its tracks. The driver's door opened, and some guy I didn't recognize stepped out. "ARE YOU GUYS OKAY?" he screeched at us, running over. "I NEED SNOW TIRES—I'M SO SORRY, YOU GUYS, I DIDN'T MEAN TO ALMOST KILL YOU BOTH..."

I blocked out his words and, from where I was on the ground, I glanced over at Edward. He was leaning against the tree, rubbing his back, which had crushed into the tall oak, slowly getting up. His eyes were on me and we made direct eye contact.

The look in his eyes—I couldn't even describe it. It was like... like he _knew_. Or like he was slowly trying to figure out what had just happened, but he was pretty sure what he had seen.

"I HAVE AN AMUBLANCE ON THE PHONE!" the guy who almost killed Edward informed us. "IT'S ON ITS WAY!"

"I'm fine," Edward said, his eyes still on me.

"I'm fine, too," I said, staring right back.

"DON'T WORRY, IT'S COMING! ARE YOU TWO ALRIGHT?"

I swallowed hard. "I'm f-fine," I stammered.

But, inside, I wasn't quite sure.


	12. Chapter 11

"I'm fine," I told the nurse. "I told you already—I'm completely fine. Never been better."

This was a lie. Of course I'd been better.

Being torn apart by newborns was better than this.

"I don't think—"

"My father's a doctor—I know when I'm fine or not," I snapped, not feeling bad a lot for being so harsh with her.

The nurse stood at the edge of my bed for a few seconds before hastily turning around and walking out of the room.

I began to follow her—I didn't need to stay in the hospital any longer, clearly—but Edward grabbed my wrist before I could make an escape.

Dammit.

"How did you do that?" he asked me quite simply.

"Make the nurse leave? I told her I was fine."

"No—not that. How did you push me out of the way, to the other side of the street, and... get to me so fast?"

This was why I should have told him earlier. I should have told him before that wind came and blew his ball cap into the middle of the road, that we couldn't be friends. That we couldn't... be together. At all. And that was the end of it.

"I didn't get to you _fast_," I lied. "I just—I was running way before the car came around the corner."

"No you weren't. You weren't beside me one second, and half a second later you were pushing me. And how did you get so strong? I mean, that tree I knocked into nearly fell over."

"No, it didn't."

"Yes, it did."

"Well maybe I work out a lot. Have you ever thought of that?"

He was silent for a few seconds. Then he said, "Not even the world's strongest person has that much strength, Bella."

"You hit your head." I said it so suddenly, there was no way it could've sounded true. "When you hit that tree. I saw. Maybe you should take a nap or something like that."

"I didn't hit my head," he insisted. "It took you less than half a second to run over to me—and then just a little push to make me crash into that tree."

"I had an adrenaline rush," I told him weakly.

"That wasn't an adrenaline rush."

"I had too many Red Bulls."

He didn't try to deny that one—but I was pretty sure it was only because it was so stupid it didn't require a reply.

"Are you—something _else_?"

I tried hard not to swallow. _Something else_? How... what... _Ohmigod, _I thought. _Rosalie was right. Why—why did I follow my senses to that biology lab in the freaking first place? Look where I am now._

"Something _else_?" I laughed, and it was difficult not to make it sound nervous. "Such as..."

"Such as... well..." He shook his head a little. "I don't even know. What about medication?"

I laughed again, but it wasn't in the least nervously, now. "_Medication_? I'm not on medication—or steroids or whatever you have in mind."

"Then how did you—"

"Look." I sighed deeply. "I didn't do _anything_, alright? Nothing. I pushed you out of the way. I saved your life. Happens every day. I mean—you know." I coughed. "_I _don't save other people's lives every day... I meant... um..." I paused, trying to take control of my babbling. "You know what? The point is I'm not super strong or super fast or anything you think I am. I'm not _something else_, and, frankly, it's safer if we aren't friends."

He blinked at me. "What? Safer if we aren't friends? What do you mean, safer? Are you in the witness protection program or something?"

"_No_! I'm NOT IN ANYTHING AND I'M _NOT_ ANYTHING! I'M A HUMAN BEING WHO PUSHED YOU OUT OF THE WAY OF A CAR AT A COMPLETELY NORMAL SPEED AND NORMAL STRENGTH LEVEL AND THAT'S THAT!"

The nurse on the other side of the room, who was stacking up a cupboard with some of those doctor-type gloves, turned to look at me in shock. Well, I had yelled it pretty loud. I chose to ignore her and kept my stare straight on Edward.

"I just—I have to go eat." I spun around on my heel.

"Bella, I—" I heard him cut himself off. "Never mind."

I stopped walking for just a second. I had the urge to turn around and tell him I hadn't meant that whole not-being-friends thing. I had the urge to turn around and tell him I _was_ something else. I _wanted_ to be friends. But that was why I couldn't be.

I was _something else_.

But it was probably just his alluring scent—so I walked right out the door and went straight home.

***

"What's your problem?" Rosalie asked me. She was referring to how I had just slammed the front door behind me so hard, the wood cracked a little at the top.

"Everything," I told her simply.

"Did your boyfriend break up with you?" Her voice was thick with sarcasm.

"No." I faced her and glared. "Actually, _I _broke up with _him_, thank you very much."

"What? You—you _seriously_ broke up with him? Why?"

I wasn't about to tell her the truth, so I just said, "You know, Carlisle and Esme and Jasper are lost in a forest right now—all confused—and you're just worrying about my _boyfriend_ troubles? I appreciate it, Rose, I do, but I think their confusion in another city, maybe even state, is more important right now. Don't you?"

Rose looked surprised for a few seconds, but then she said, "Of course it is. I was just concerned about you for a little. Pfft. I'll go get Emmett. We can go looking for them or something." She disappeared up the stairs.

I sighed and took a seat on the floor. I didn't feel like walking over to a chair or anything—this was just fine. I just needed some time to think. To think about Chris... Edward—

"They're LOST?" Alice's shriek came from upstairs. "How can they be _lost_? We don't get lost! That's impossible!"

"I know," was Rosalie's reply. "But Bella said they did."

A quarter of a second later Alice was standing above me. "They got _lost_?" she questioned.

I shrugged. "That's what they told me. But I'm sure they'll be able to find their way out of whatever forest they're in—"

Alice's face clouded over in panic. "Forest? They're in a forest?"

I nodded, ignoring her panic. "Yes. Jasper said they _confused_ in a _forest_, because the entrance disappeared or something."

"Well then let's go!" Alice pranced out the door.

"What—where?" I got up and followed her.

"Well we have to help them, don't we?"

"They didn't say—"

"Bella, they're confused, and when Carlisle gets confused, they seriously need help."

I considered this. "Point taken."

**A/N: I promise I'm trying to update as soon as I possibly can. It's just school is—ugh. **


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: I failed my math test last week. Which may sound stupid and irrelevant to the story—but that was why I haven't been updating—and why when I **_**have**_** been updating, it has been pretty darn short. So I've been studying and studying—**

**But... I'll just get on with the story now I suppose...**

Something was wrong here.

Something was very, _very_ wrong.

I shook myself mentally. _Get ahold of yourself, Bella. Just... trace your steps backwards or whatever it is Carlisle says when you loose your car keys. _

Okay. We left the house. We called them. They were so confused they had no idea what city they were in. All they knew was that they were in a forest. So we checked all the forests in Washington—and nothing. So we checked one—oh, what state was it, now? What state was beside Washington? How could I not remember what state was BESIDE WASHINGTON?

_Calm down. Okay._ So we went into a forest—and then we heard them—but then we didn't—and then we were standing in a forest—but there was no way out—and there was no tops to the trees—they were too high to see over—and then it was—and then we—but we couldn't find them and—WHAT WAS GOING ON?

Frustrated, I punched the trunk of a tree. It collapsed, making a large CRUNCHing noise. I sighed.

Well, at least I know now. If a tree falls in a forest, it makes a sound.

"Bella!"

I looked up at Rosalie. She was climbing the tree next to the one I had just punched, her hair completely dishevelled. Two days without a straight iron had her messy, dirty, and really, really bitchy.

"Why don't you HELP US?" she questioned, jumping down from the tree and landing flawlessly. "There's no north west or east in this place."

"What about south?"

"Not the time for jokes, okay? Not the time. All this is your fault in the first place, and now YOU'RE NOT HELPING."

She had a point. If I hadn't brought Chris to the house after finding him dying on the streets that night, none of this would have happened. But did she have to point that out so bluntly? "I know. But what do you expect me to do?"

"HELP."

"HOW." It wasn't a question.

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"Well there you go. What are we supposed to do? We've been trying to get out of this forest for days now, and we can't find an exit. What does that tell you?" I didn't wait for her reply. "It tells us that someone's putting thoughts in my head."

"Oh, WONDERFUL!" She threw her arms in the air. "So we're lost in some state, some city, some FREAKING COUNTRY, in some FOREST, not knowing where we are, or how to get out, even though we're supposed to be supernaturally strong and fast and all that crap that seems to be USELESS."

"Yeah. I know. It's fantastic." Alice emerged from the shrubs behind me, brushing some leafs off her clothing. "Do you know I just climbed and climbed a tree—for half a freaking hour—and I did not reach the top? I couldn't even SEE the top. Emmett came with me—now he's—"

_Crunch_.

"—looking for some deer—"

_Crunch_.

"Alice," I said. "Shut up."

She did as I said and the three of us listened intently.

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

"Footsteps," Rosalie mouthed to me.

"Running," I mouthed back. "They're running."

_Crunchcrunchcrunchcrunch_.

"Over leaves," Alice added without actually speaking aloud. "Running over leaves."

"More than one," Rosalie said.

"Newborns." Alice and I said it at the same time.

Immediately the three of us crouched down, trying to blend into the surroundings. This was unlikely—we were all dressed in bright clothes, and the trees and leaves around us were all colourless. The shrubs bare, and everything else brown and dry.

"If Emmett does not show up I will kill him," Rosalie informed us aloud. "Kill him. This shirt is new, and the last thing I need is it to be ripped up by a bunch of immature, blood-thirsty newborns."

After that, none of us said anything. We waited, crouched on the ground on the balls of our feet and palms of our hands, anxiously, yet nervously, awaiting a pack of newborn vampires to burst out of the woods. The crunching noise continued on, the only noise around us. _Crunchcrunchcrunchcrunch._

"When are they—"

Rosalie never got to finish her sentence, because at that second, a loud screaming noise came from behind us. So loud, if I were human, I would have had to cover my ears. The three of us spun around to face the screamer, but something flashed by us, just a blur of green and brown. Rosalie screeched and covered the front of her shirt, like she was actually afraid of the dirt that may have stained it.

I was about to jump up and pounce on the blur of green and brown, when a chuckle came from the blob. Rolling my eyes, I stuck my foot out and tripped them both, causing them to spiral on the ground, headfirst.

"EM_METT_!" Rosalie cried, running over and slapping him across the arm. "Did you HAVE to scare me like that?"

Jasper, sprawled on the ground beside him, snorted. "C'mon, Rose. Just having a little fun."

"Oh! Yes! BUCKETS of fun, apparently." She took two steps back from the two of them, looking embarrassed that she had been so frightened for her clothing. "Maybe after this we can go pour grape juice on my new jeans. You know, for _fun_."

Alice was beside Jasper in two seconds. "Where _were_ you guys? Where's Esme and Carlisle? Did you see any newborns or Chris or anything?" And then to Emmett: "How did you find him? Were they with him? They aren't dead or anything right?" She grabbed the collar of Emmett's shirt, lifting him off the ground. "Tell me they're not dead."

"They aren't. We just ran ahead so we could—" He cut himself off. "Never mind. They're on their way though."

I smoothed out my jeans and straightened my posture. God, they were both so juvenile. "Carlisle and Esme, you mean? Did you find a way out yet? Because we've been here for TWO FREAKING DAYS and we haven't found a way out—Alice even climbed a tree, and she couldn't see the top." I paused for less than half a second. "Oh—and did you find any mountain lions? I'm starving."

"Ditto." Alice leaned back on a tree just as Carlisle and Esme walked out from the woods.

I was about to ask them about the whole mountain lions thing, when Carlisle said, "We found a way out."

***

Five minutes later, I was sitting on the ground, my eyes shut, my lips pursed. Carlisle had told us about the whole illusion thing, and about if were going to get out of here, I would have to concentrate majorly. Apparently, the illusions were so damn strong, they were nearly real. That didn't make any sense whatsoever, of course, but it was how Alice was able to climb and climb the tree.

"C'mon, Bella!" Emmett was saying. "Are you a wimp or what?"

I felt like punching his face in, but I resisted. I mean, punching Emmett wasn't going to get us out of here. Unfortunately.

"Shut up, Emmett!" I heard Alice say. "She's _concentrating_."

"Not hard enough!"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, opening my right eye to look at them both. "Right now, or I'm not going to be able to get this shield around this place. Okay? Then we'll all rot here or something and end up decaying like FUNGUS and we'll all be forgotten and I've never even been to Egypt!"

They shut up.

There was a moment of silence, but the Rosalie said, "Say _ummmm_. It works in those TV shows. You know, the ones where they're concentrating really hard to summon ghosts or something? Maybe it'll work for getting a shield around a forest!"

"Rose! You need to be _quiet_!"

"Jasper, really, it might work if you give it a chance—"

"GOODNESS! If it'll shut you up, then FINE. I'll SAY UMMMMM."

She shot Jasper a triumphant look.

_Okay, Bella_, I said to myself. _You need to concentrate. And, if you want to satisfy the rest of them, act like one of those people that levitate over their yoga mats on TV._

"_Ummmm_," I said, thinking of breaking the shield. My voice sounded irritated. "_UMMMMMUMMMM!_"

Suddenly, I felt something extending from me. Like another part of me was moving around me; like another part of me was protecting me. But not just _me_. All of them. It was protecting them too. And then, it was like something was wiped away. Like someone hosing down chalk on a sidewalk. It was just _gone_.

And when I opened my eyes, I could basically see it. Like a band around me. No, around _us_. Our settings looked almost exactly the same now, except I could see over the treetops. I could see _the treetops_.

Thank God.

"SEE?" Rosalie was pointing at me and jumping up and down on the balls of her feet. "I TOLD YOU ALL! IT WORKED! MY _UMMM_ING WORKED!"

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

I smiled, keeping the shield where it was. Protecting us. "Let's get out of here now," I said.

**A/N: I know I know it's short for like a month without a chapter. (That was a hyperbole. Sort of. Kind of.) Please don't stab me. (Or suck my blood for that matter)**


	14. Chapter 13

"Is this about the car accident?"

I sighed and closed my eyes at the sound of his voice (and at his smell). Couldn't he just leave it alone? Didn't he know what was best for him?

"Is _what_ about the car accident?" I demanded, spinning around to face him.

His arms were across his chest, his foot was tapping. "Well you weren't here for a few days. Is this because what I said at the hospital?"

Uh, _no_, I wanted to say. This is about saving humans from being half-eaten by newborns and this evil Chris dude. And this is about me not _biting you_.

But I didn't say that. Instead, I said, "No," and began to walk towards the front doors of the school. I had just gotten out of my truck, and, somehow, Edward had spotted me, and rushed over. When I saw him, I had considered getting back in the truck and driving all the way to Kentucky or something, but realized I was going to fail biology if I missed another day.

"Bella..." His voice was strained. "Can't you just tell me?"

"But then I'd have to kill you," I informed him, only half-joking.

"Ha-ha." He saw my serious expression. "Wait, you're kidding, right?"

This would've been _sooo_ much easier if he wasn't so freaking stubborn. "Well, just, I can't tell you, alright? And that's the end of it."

"So there _is_ something that you're hiding?"

Stubborn, stubborn boy.

"NO! I'm just saying, er, _theoretically_, if there was, I wouldn't be able to tell you and whatnot. But since there's nothing to say, I need to get to biology, otherwise I think I'm going to fail."

"I'm going to go to biology, too."

Fabulous.

We walked to the building without saying another word to each other. The silence was uncomfortable and awkward, and all we could hear was the rain pitter-pattering down onto the cement, and our feet splashing through the puddles. Forks was so rainy and dreary—but, like Carlisle said, it was better that way.

But I still wished for Phoenix.

After what seemed like hours and hours of walking, we arrived outside the biology room. Edward opened the door for me, and I stepped in. He followed.

Mike Newton, one of those immature high school guys that were only baby-cute, yelled, "Hey! Edward! Over—" He stopped talking when he realized who Edward was standing with. Me.

I wondered since when did Edward know Mike Newton. Was it when I was trapped in that forest? (Which, by the way, _was_ actually in Washington. I have no clue why my thoughts got so mixed up.) I mean, Edward didn't seem like the type of guy to be friends with... with _Mike Newton_.

Not that I cared or anything. I was just saying.

"Hi, Mike," Edward greeted. Then he turned to me. "There's two empty stools over there..."

"No," I said quickly. "Go sit with Mike. I'll go sit with..." I glanced around the room. "With, um..."

"Miss Cullen. Mr. Masen. Please take a seat. We're doing the blood tests I was telling you about a few days ago..."

Blood tests? What blood tests? He never told me about any blood tests.

Frantically, I turned to Mr. Banner. "I can't do this," I told him. "I can't stand the, uh, the sight of blood. I'll faint. I'll—"

"Miss Cullen." He sighed. "You were perfectly fine with the other experiments we did. What about dissecting the worm? That was definitely harder to stand than pricking your finger with a small needle and testing what—"

"Mr. Banner," I said firmly. "_Please_. I need to go to the nurse's office."

He sighed again, this time it was clear he was irritated. "But you haven't _fainted_ yet. But..." He pulled his eyebrows together. "You do look rather pale..."

"Yes! Please, Mr. Banner?"

"Fine, Miss Cullen. But straight to the nurse's office."

"Of course."

As I stepped out of the classroom, I heard Mr. Banner say, "There's always at least one."

I sighed with relief as I walked through the courtyard, away from the classroom, and away from the nurse's office. I knew Mr. Banner would never even think of calling her to ask if I—_Bella Cullen_, _the_ ideal student—had actually made it to her office. He would never even suspect I'd skip class.

"Where are you going?"

Was he kidding me? Because this was just getting ridiculous. "Why are you _following_ me?" I demanded, spinning around with my hands on my hips.

"He said I should escort you. In case you, I don't know, faint."

"Mr. Banner did?"

"Yes."

"Well I'm fine. Trust me. I can handle myself."

He didn't look convinced. "At my old school, three of the girls fainted when we did these blood tests."

_My problem is a little more complex than that_.

"Oh. Er, cool. But you can go back to class now. I'm just heading—"

"To the nurse's office?" He pointed to a building about a hundred yards away. It was facing the opposite direction I was heading in. "I'm new here, I know, but I'm pretty sure it's faster to walk that way than all the way around."

"I lost my earring earlier," I said quickly. "I'm looking for it now."

"You don't have any earrings in today—"

"BOTH OF THEM, alright? I lost BOTH OF THEM, then."

He still looked unsure. "Well... if you're okay..."

"I'm perfectly okay."

"Then I guess I'll leave you to look for your..." He paused. "Earring."

"Thank you." I nodded at him. "I'd appreciate that."

_He smells good_, a voice said randomly inside of me.

I tried to ignore it. He should be walking away soon. I could surely control myself for just a few more seconds...

"See you around." Edward went back to the class, not turning back over his shoulder to look at me once.

I sighed with relief.

Maybe if I moved to Canada, my life would be much, much easier.

***

When they told us we were getting some new exchange students, I thought nothing of it.

Because schools get new exchange students _all the time_. It isn't out of the ordinary or anything.

Apparently, these exchange students were from this really rainy country somewhere down in South America. But they were still able to speak English. And, still, I thought nothing of it—even if it _was_ strange that out of all the places in the world to transfer to, they came _here_. To this small town in Washington.

It was only when I saw the new students, later that day that I realized something was off.

Their skin was pale, and they had dark circles under their eyes. All of them were exceptionally beautiful—there were two girls, and two guys.

The two girls were polar opposites. One had long, curly brown hair and playful-looking golden eyes, while the other had a blond pixie cut, with heavy eye makeup, although she didn't need it.

The two guys looked just about the same. The only difference was one had a slightly darker shade of shaggy bronze hair, along with a little more muscle bulging out from under his tight T-shirt.

Obviously, not one of them was human.

**A/N: I know. Short. Not the best. But I'm starting on a different Twilight fanfic, and I think from now on I'm going to spend equal time on both. AND my own stories. And, you know, homework. =/**

**But review anyways, pretty please? ;D**


	15. Chapter 14

Melanie. Ezra. Will. Chiara.

I watched out my windshield as Emmett and Jasper confronted the four of them. I could hear what they were saying quite clearly—even if they were a hundred yards away.

"...Ran into a clan on newborns," the girl with the short blond hair, named Chiara, but pronounced _Kiara_, was saying. "...Came up here, found another clan..."

"...Got lost..." the guy with more muscles said. His name was Ezra. "Heard from the clan in Alaska there were more of us..." He chuckled lightly. "_Vegetarians_, down here.... Also heard that you ran into some newborns earlier on."

"We did." Jasper nodded. "Some of them..." He shuddered. "They're really powerful. Especially the one who made them all."

"We've heard." Melanie, the one with the long brown hair, was picking at one of her cuticles. "But if it's anything like the ones in South America... It isn't a good thing, to say the least."

"Do you guys..." Emmett hesitated. "_Do_ anything?"

They looked confused. "Do any—_oh_. You mean..." Will smiled and tilted his head slightly to the left. His pupils dilated. "You mean like this?"

It took me a few seconds to understand what was happening—suddenly Emmett was covering his ears and kneeling down on the ground, his face scrunched up, as if he was experiencing serious pain.

"Will!" Melanie snapped. "STOP IT! You're hurting him!"

Will's pupils returned to normal size, and the smile washed off his face. He stared at the ground. "Sorry," he said to Emmett. "I was just _demonstrating_... If you're within my range, I can... I can't really explain it. It's just a sound, but, boy, does it _hurt_."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Sure, man. Whatever." He turned to the others. "What about you guys?"

"Only me," Melanie said. "I can kind of... put people in a _trance_. When they're in that state, they have no thoughts of the past, present or future, and so basically, it's like mind control. Whatever I say, they have to do." She lifted a shoulder, and then let it drop. "I didn't ask for it or anything."

_Mind control._

"I used to be fascinated in hypnotism," she explained. "And then... I sort of... _died_." She began picking at her cuticle again. "You know. Sort of."

"What do _you_ guys do?" Chiara questioned.

"I calm," Jasper said. "Bella, in the truck, is a shield." When everyone turned to look at me, I raised my hand and waved weakly. "And Alice sees the future. She's at home, now, though."

"Ah." Ezra nodded. "I see."

"So, we were wondering, do you guys need any help? With the newborn situation?"

Emmett stared at Chiara. "Why?"

Chiara took a deep breath. "Our friend, Allison, got killed by them. She was trying to help us—and so they got her." She shrugged. "She was like a sister to all of us. And... those newborns aren't getting away with it."

Jasper furrowed his brow. "But how do you know it's the same clan of newborns that you encountered in South America?"

"We followed them _here_. That's how."

"But they originated here," Jasper argued.

"Well they were in South America a few weeks ago."

"They were _made_ a few weeks ago. Here. In _North_ America."

"That's impossible."

Unless....

Oh. _Damn._

I banged my fist on the window to get their attention. Once they were all staring at me, I said, "There must be two of the newborn groups. One of them started in South America, one of them started here. The ones in South America came up here as soon as Chris made the new ones... and so... he must have contacted them or something, and now they're making an alliance."

I knew it wasn't possible, but I swear I saw all their faces pale.

"That's bad, right?" Will said.

"No duh." Melanie rolled her eyes.

"We need to talk to Carlisle," Jasper announced, heading for Emmett's jeep. "You all should come. Just follow us there."

They agreed, and got into the car they had came in—a sleek, black Porsche.

As we all peeled out of the parking lot and onto the road, starting to the house, I couldn't help but wonder what Edward was doing.

***

"Two of them?"

"Yes."

"There are _two of them_."

"Yes."

Carlisle put his head in his hands. "Brilliant. And they're both in Washington."

"Yes."

"Well do we have any idea how big they are?"

Ezra brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes. "Pretty big. We encountered the one that killed our friend, Allison. If it hadn't been for the Amazon coven that came to help us out, we wouldn't be here right now."

"The Amazon coven?"

"Zafrina, Senna, and Kachiri.

"Ah. Old friends. But..." Carlisle hesitated. "What coven would you all be? I don't believe any of us knew you existed."

"Brazilian," Chiara explained.

After that, nobody said much. Carlisle decided he would contact the Denali coven, to ask for their assistance, when the time would come. He seemed pretty sure that that time wouldn't be too far away, either. I didn't bother asking what he thought would happen during 'that time'. I was too afraid of the answer.

"So you'll be going to Forks High?" I asked Ezra later that evening. Esme invited them to stay a little longer.

Ezra nodded. "For now."

"Oh. Um, cool." We were sitting out on the porch, looked at the trees swaying in the wind. It was pretty out here at night. You could see the stars. Much better than you could in Phoenix...

As if reading my mind, he said, "So, how did you meet Carlisle and the others?"

I bit my lip and hugged my knees against my chest. It had been a while since I told _this_ story. "I was on a class field trip to Washington, but a bunch of people were going out partying, away from the hotels, by the beach. So I decided to come." I paused. "By the time we decided to go back, it was too late to catch a taxi or take a bus. They were all closed. So we decided to walk back." I shut my eyes. I couldn't remember exactly what had happened, but most of the details were clear. "On the way we got attacked."

He looked alarmed. "By what?"

I stared down at my feet. "Vampires."

"_What?_"

"All I know is that suddenly they were surrounding our group, in this forest. One of them snapped my friend's neck, and... bit her. And another one of them, they came at me... they managed to bite me, but that was when the Cullens showed up. They got rid of them, and took me in. I already had been bitten, by one of the other vampires, so that part was done. My other friends, though..." I shut my eyes. "They didn't survive long enough to be turned into... _one of us._"

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It's okay." I opened my eyes again. "What about you?"

I listened intently as he went on to explain how he had been under a collapsed house during a hurricane. Luckily, Allison, who was already a vampire at the time, managed to pry him out of the rubble and change him. They were the first two in the Brazilian coven, and next came Melanie, Chiara, and then Will. I could see the hurt in his eyes when he talked about Allison.

"I'm sorry about Allison," I told him quietly.

"It's fine. It's over now."

For a few minutes we sat there in silence, listening to the wind brush the leaves of the trees, and to the laughter inside the house. I could faintly hear Emmett doing his Arnold Schwarzenegger impression.

"I'm going inside," he said, getting up from the porch and brushing his jeans off. "Are you coming, Bella?"

"I'll be right there."

"Alright."

The door shut behind him.

Once he was gone, I leaned back against the stairs and looked up at the stars. There were so many of them, and I found myself wondering if Edward was looking at the exact same sky I was right now.

Then I wondered why I kept wondering about him.

***

The next morning, as I started up my truck, Alice climbed into the passenger's seat.

"Aren't you taking your Porsche?" I asked her.

"No. I just want to ride with you this morning."

I blinked. "Uh, why?"

"I need to tell you something."

"Then tell me." I pulled out of the driveway, and noticed Alice's hesitation. What was wrong? "I'm right here."

"No, it's just... I don't think I should tell you while you're driving. You might cause an accident."

"Alice," I said firmly, with a little bit of a laugh. "Just tell me?"

"Bella, I—"

"Come on. It can't be _that_ bad."

She was staring at the road. "It is."

"I can handle it."

"Maybe we should pull over..."

"ALICE!"

"Okay, okay." She drew a deep breath. "I had a vision last night."

This wasn't what I had been expecting. I looked at her from the corner of my eye. "About what, exactly?"

"I just want to tell you I don't like what I saw. It's a horrible thing to witness death, Bella. You know that right?"

"_Death?_" Now I was getting nervous. "_Death?_"

"Yes. It wasn't very pleasant."

"Who," I was scared to ask, but did it anyway, "_died?_" Then it hit me. "Wait, _I _died, didn't I? The newborns did it, didn't they? Oh, just wonderful. I'm going to get killed by newborns." I placed my forehead on the steering wheel in frustration, accidentally honking the horn.

"BELLA, LOOK OUT!"

I glanced up and swerved out of the way, off the street and into the forest, just before we got crushed by a pickup truck.

"It wasn't you who died."

Surprised, I said, "Oh. Then who died?"

"I'm just going to say it, because I don't know how to put it any other way. Edward was the one who died."

Oh.

"But you were right about the other part. It was the newborns."

I leaned back in my seat. _Edward was going to die?_

"But we can change that, right?" I asked urgently. "I mean, your visions change, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course."

"Because, Alice, he _can't _die. He—he just _can't_." I realized I was shaking, so I clutched the steering wheel hard. "He can't."

"Bella, he doesn't have to die. We can change the future."

"Right. We can change the future. We can change the future."

I paused. "We just have to, you know, protect him, right?"

"Bella, yes, of course. We won't take our eyes off of him."

"Because he _can't_ die. He just _can't_."

"He won't, Bella. I just thought you had a right to know."

"Right. Right."

The rest of the drive neither of us said anything. I think Alice was afraid that if she did, I might have a breakdown and crash into a bus or something.

And the rest of the morning went by for me in autopilot. I didn't go too close to Edward, but I _did_ keep my eyes on him. As did Alice.

But for some reason, he didn't speak to me the entire morning. No, "Are you _something else?_" or, "Why are you ignoring me?" I did notice, however, that Melanie was also watching Edward closely. I wasn't sure if this was because Alice had told her about the vision, or if she smelt him, or what.

"Some of them smell _very_ good," Will said at lunch, meaning the people in the cafeteria. The four of them were sitting with us. "But others... _eiy_. I'd rather eat meatloaf."

"Like that one. He smells _awesome_." Melanie was staring at Mike Newton's table.

"_Mike?_" Jasper snorted. "You mind controllers have strange taste."

"Mike? Is that his name?" She pointed, and my heart dropped. "The one with the reddish brown hair and green eyes?"

I caught Alice stiffen slightly, and look at me tentatively.

"That's _Edward_," Emmett corrected. "Mike is the one on the end there."

Melanie crinkled her nose. "Ew. No. Not _Mike_. _Edward_ is the one that smells really good."

I played with the untouched food on my plate, trying to block out their voices.

"Him and Bella used to date, you know."

I shot Jasper a warning look.

"They went bowling together." He snickered. "Quite the time."

"Bowling?" Melanie looked at me. "Were you going _steady?_ That sounds serious."

"It was just bowling..." I wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not, but from the honest look on her face I was guessing she wasn't. "It wasn't, you know, an actual relationship. It was only a night."

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "A whole NIGHT?"

"Wait—no, I didn't mean... I just meant, um, a date. Like, an evening. That's all!" I held my hands up. "I swear."

"Oh, alright. So you don't mind if I ask him out?"

I glanced at Edward, who was sitting beside Mike. He looked really good today, the color of his shirt brought out the green in his eyes. And he looked... _happy._ Who was I to go in and ruin everything for him?

"No." I turned back to Melanie. "I don't mind."

When, really, I wasn't sure.

**A/N: Review please? =D**


	16. Chapter 15

Melanie and Edward.

Bella and Edward.

Edward and Melanie.

Edward and Bella.

I couldn't decide which sounded catchier.

"Bella, can you get that pencil for me?" Melanie asked, pointing to a pencil that was on the ground, much closer to her than me.

"Why don't you do it yourself?"

"Damn!" she cursed. "I can't get into your head!"

"Well, I'm a shield, remember?"

"Ohh." She seemed to remember now. "Right."

I tried not to roll my eyes as I looked away, down at my desk.

Suddenly, a piece of paper flew onto it. I blinked and glanced up, trying to see who had thrown it. But everyone was looking down at their algebra assignments.

Since it had my name written in big, bold letters on the front, I placed it on my lap and slowly unfolded it, so the teacher wouldn't see or hear.

_**Bella,**_

_**I just want to have dinner with you Friday night. My treat. No bowling balls, no slushies, just a nice dinner. The two of us. Okay?**_

_**Edward**_

Before I could stop myself, I was writing back to him, on the back of the paper.

**Edward,**

**I can't have dinner Friday night. But I can go to the movies. **

**Bella**

I threw it back to him.

_**Which movie would you like to see?**_

**Any horror. **

_**Sounds like fun. I'll check the times in the newspaper today and get back to you.**_

**Alright. I'll pick you up, again.**

_**I can pick you up. It's no big deal. **_

I considered this. Then, remembering Melanie, made my decision.

**Sure, why not?**

I'd just have to make sure she was there when Edward's Volvo arrived.

**A/N: I know, I know, it's short. But, first of all, I want the next parts to all be one chapter and I thought you guys deserved something after that last cliffhanger, and, second of all, I'm studying for my final exams, which start June 10****th****. I'm also training for the city finals in track, for relay, which I have never done before. I'm not sure why my stupid coach put me in it.**

**Anyways, I'm sorry if I can't update as soon as possible. There's just so much pressure on me right now. **


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: Guys, I'm so, so, sorry I haven't updated in almost a month. I've been super busy, even with school done, when I thought I'd have more spare time I actually don't. I'm really sorry.**

"On Friday the wolves are teaching us how to fight."

For a few seconds I just stared at Emmett. He had said it so casually; we were on the couch, watching an episode of _Oprah_ like any other Wednesday afternoon.

"_What did you just say?_" I asked slowly.

He blinked and turned to look at me. "I _said_ that Carlisle didn't think the guys up in Alaska would be enough for the fight between the newborns and us, so he got the wolves down in La Push, too. We don't really know how to fight against newborns so Jasper will be helping."

"But I can't."

"You can't fight?"

"Not on Friday, I can't!"

"Why not?" Emmett, not interested in the conversation anymore, looked back at _Oprah_, who was currently interviewing a pair of conjoined twins.

"I have a date," I told him matter-of-factly. "With Edward Masen."

"You're going to pick a date over learning to fight the newborns?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "You're just making it sound bad."

"How can you possibly make it sound _good?_"

I considered this. "I have a former commitment so I can't go cancelling my plans."

"Bella, c'mon—"

"Emmett, I'll go to the wolves Saturday, okay? I'll learn to fight then."

"Plus," he added, his eyes still on the conjoined twins, "Jasper has a 'former commitment' Saturday too. A date with Alice. So he can't just blow Alice off to help you learn to fight the newborns. Not to mention a few other clans are coming to help out."

"It really isn't horrible. There's probably not even that many newborns, you know."

"I really hope you're kidding."

"Jeez, I _know_ how to fight!" I stood up. "I KNOW! I don't need the _wolves_ to tell me!" And then, like a five-year-old would do, I stomped up to my room, slamming my door behind me for emphasis.

***

"I'M GOING!" I yelled up the stairs. "EDWARD'S HERE!"

Luckily, Melanie was sitting right there, on the couch, watching me as I yelled this. "Where are you going? And do you mean Edward from _school_ Edward?"

"Um, yeah," I said. "Edward from _school_ Edward. But I know that the wolves are, like, training us to fight tonight and stuff, so I'll be back in time for that." I smiled sweetly, which only made the grin meaner, just as the doorbell rang.

I swung the door open, revealing Edward, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket with white stripes down the sleeves. On a normal person it'd look like a zebra—but on Edward it was just there, enhancing his good looks.

"Hey, Bella," he greeted when he saw me.

"Hi." And then, up the stairs again, "I'M GOING NOW!"

"Bye."

Edward and I both turned our heads in Melanie's direction. She was now leaning against the staircase railing, arms across her chest, eyes narrowed into slits. "Have a good night, you two. But, Bella." Her eyes got even smaller. "Don't be _too_ late. Or else, you know."

Edward looked at her strangely, like he didn't understand what was going on. I didn't blame him. But he got over it promptly and faced me again. "Don't you need a coat?" he asked, motioning towards my T-shirt and jeans.

"Oh," I said. "Right. Right." Shrugging on a jacket from the front closet, I waved goodbye to Melanie. "Bye, Mel! I won't be back too late, I promise!"

At that moment I was thanking _someone_ up _there_ that Melanie wasn't able to control my mind. If she was, I probably would've already dumped Edward by now, and told him how great of a person Melanie was.

The two of us walked down the driveway, and the wind blew his scent in my direction. Thankfully I had hunted not that long ago. "Did you have trouble finding the place?" I asked.

He blinked and turned around, looking at the front window. I looked too. "Why is she staring at us?"

Melanie was staring out the window, her eyes fixated on us—or more specifically Edward—completely concentrated on something. When neither of us moved, she slammed her fist against her leg, said something, and disappeared back into the house.

"What was that about?" Edward opened the car door for me, and I hoisted myself in. _Why couldn't she control _his_ mind?_

"Melanie's just..." I searched for the right word. "_Different._"

"I can tell," he muttered, putting his Volvo into drive. "How do you know her again?"

"She's friends with Alice," I said simply, and then we sped off down the street.

***

"I apologize right now," Edward told me as we walked out of the theatre, two and three-quarters hours later. "That was the most horrible movie I have ever seen in my lifetime."

I smirked. The movie we had seen was called _In Space. _Edward said when he bought the tickets he'd thought it was some sort of sci-fi movie, like _Star Wars_. But then we sat down and watched almost three hours of some boring narrator voice talk about stars and blue giants or something like that. Even though I had gone to high school a couple of times, I didn't understand half of it.

"I've seen worse," I lied as we both got into his Volvo.

"Still, we should've gone to a romantic comedy or a Harry Potter movie. I'd had settled for _The Titanic_ at that point."

"Well you didn't know it was going to be bad," I said, doing up my seatbelt.

"I suppose not."

We drove in silence for a little while, besides the rain that was just drizzling down on the roof. Nothing new.

"Your house is very hard to find," he said, squinting through the windshield so he could see better. "The opening in the forest is the hardest part, because you don't really notice it—"

"TURN!" I said, gesturing my hand in the direction of the path. He swerved to the left, driving into the opening. "And then this'll lead us to it."

"It's hard to see in this rain, and the darkness."

"I know."

As the house came into view, I could see a couple of shadows, lurking behind a grouping of trees off to the right. Feeling uneasy, I sat up straighter and blinked, trying to get a clearer view of what was going on, trying to hear _something._ But that was all I was able to see. Shadows in the darkness.

"Stop," I said to Edward, not looking at him. "Stop the car."

"What? Why?" He peered at me. "Bella, what's wrong?"

"_STOP!_" I cried. "Just _let me out here_."

"But it's raining—"

"EDWARD!"

He slammed on the brakes, and the Volvo came to a stop about a hundred metres away from the house, away from the shadows. "Thank you for a good night." I opened the door and jumped out. "I'll see you at school on Monday." And then, before he could say another word, I ran at a human speed towards the porch. I swear, as I was running, I heard someone say my name. But I kept going.

"Bella!" one of the shadows took a step closer, into the porch light, seeing me. I sighed with relief when I saw it was just Emmett. And then I saw his face. "Finally—look, we went to train with the wolves, but then these newborns came." He raked a hand through his hair. "I don't know what happened because it was like—"

"Emmett," I said, trying to remain calm and firm. "What happened?"

"Well—they got one of the wolves."

"Did you get them?"

He looked away.

"Dammit, Emmett! How many were there?"

"About ten."

"How many of us were there?"

"Us and Ezra's clan. The Alaskans couldn't make it—they're coming later in the week because they said they had a run-in with some other nomads." He just shook his head.

"Wonderful," I said, turning around to stare at the forest. My eyes caught on a sliver of silver, probably about a hundred metres away. When I looked closely enough, I could see the full thing. Edward's Volvo. Still there.

As I ran towards it I swore under my breath. I had _told_ him to leave. Why would he—

At last I got close enough to see inside the car. And what I saw was nothing. Edward wasn't there—his seat was empty—but the car door was open—

Not open. Broken. It was hanging by a hinge.

"EMMETT!" I screamed, backing away from the car. "COME HERE!"

"What happened?" he asked, over to me in seconds.

I pointed at the car, unable to speak. Emmett cursed and rushed back towards the house, and inside, I could hear him telling Carlisle and Esme and Rose and Alice and Jasper and Ezra's clan, but I still couldn't comprehend what was going on.

Edward was gone.

**A/N: Anyways, I know I don't deserve it, but tell me what you guys think?**


	18. Chapter 17

"I heard him say my name," I said. "I _heard_ him. But I just kept going, because I didn't think it was important!"

Emmett patted my arm awkwardly.

"And JASPER!" I turned around in my seat to look at him. "Don't even _try_ to calm me right now or I'm never shielding you again, okay?"

Jasper glanced warily at Alice, who just shook her head.

"We'll find him," Emmett tried to assure me. Since Alice and Jasper were sitting in the front of the Jeep, and me and Emmett in the back, he had been automatically assigned the job of comforting me. "Don't worry, we _will_."

"IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" I cried. "I was the one who wanted to go to the damn movie, and not train with the wolves. And I was the one who didn't turn around when he said my name."

"You couldn't have known—" Alice started, turning onto a dirt path.

"I _should _have known!" I cut her off. "Why are we in the Jeep, anyways? Why didn't we just run to look for him?"

Alice blinked. "I'm not sure. Jasper, why _are_ we in the Jeep?"

He shrugged.

"GREAT, JASPER!" I kicked his seat with my feet with enough force to send his head into the dashboard, which left a face imprint in it. "YOU MORON! YOU COMLETE AND UTTER MORON!"

"Alice," Jasper said, "you're _sure_ you don't want me to calm her just a little? Look at the dashboard now—"

I kicked again, and he must have got the message, because he shut up.

"Bella...." Emmett said slowly.

"WHAT? YOU EXPECT ME TO REMAIN _CALM_ IN THIS SITUATION? EDWARD'S BEEN KIDNAPPED BY SOMEONE WITH ENOUGH POWER TO RUIN HIS CAR DOOR! AND IT'S _MY FAULT!_"

Emmett winced at how loud I had screamed and then said, "My God, Bella. Can you _please_ calm down, and we'll get out here, and try to follow his trail?" After I had taken a few deep breaths and nodded once, Alice stopped the Jeep and the four of us climbed out and into the forest. Getting from the starting point to where we were now hadn't been too hard since Edward's blood was—well—a little more than good smelling. But now the trail was starting to fade, even if the blood had smelt like that.

"What are we supposed to do when we can't smell it anymore?" I asked as we ran through the trees, dodging the roots that were sticking up from the ground.

"Then," Alice replied, "we'll have to think like a hunter—or whatever the hell got Edward. We've got the Brazilian coven back at the house, searching the woods around that area, Esme contacting more clans and Carlisle getting the wolves. I'm sure that we'll find him."

"We better," I mumbled. "We better."

***

"We picked up another trail."

I looked at Ezra. Where had he come from? "What other trail?" I asked.

"It was by Edward's." He seemed to hesitate here. "It wasn't very noticeable at first—but after a while it started showing up. I think it was because the person wasn't wearing the right... _clothing_."

I continued to just look at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Here's what we found..." Ezra held up a blue shirt, and I instantly remembered Edward wearing it one day at school. It was ripped and tattered—the sleeves completely torn off—and it smelt exactly like him. "It was near the end of the trail. At first we thought it was Edward's... but then Alice explained what he was wearing today, which _wasn't_ a blue shirt. So we went back and retraced our steps, Carlisle helped. We—er—found—that the trail was of _two_ people."

Even without him saying it aloud I knew what was coming.

"Edward, and some other guy that Carlisle told me was named Chris."

***

We were giving up hope.

We'd tried to get lost like they had before—but clearly _wanting_ to get lost, and trying to do so, was not possible. We'd tried to search in all directions of the placement of that one blue T-shirt, but that hadn't worked either, as it lead to nothing but trees, trees, and more trees.

"He could be trying to point us in the wrong direction with that blue T-shirt," Rosalie said the night after he vanished. "Chris wasn't stupid or whatever. Maybe he knew what he was doing when he stole Edward's T-shirt. Maybe he knew that his trail would be less obvious if he was wearing that."

"So then what do you recommend?" I asked. "Hmm?"

She just tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and said, "I wasn't recommending anything. I was just giving us some ideas."

When she was out of earshot I snorted. "Some idea."

That was when I heard it.

It was loud—very loud—and it sounded like someone had broken a window with a baseball bat—some sort of glass breaking and shattering—and when I turned around to face whatever it was, I saw Alice leaning on a tree for support, staring at the green in front of her. But she was clearly somewhere else—a different time and place that only she could see. Surrounding her feet were glass shards, some of them catching the light and glinting. From what I could see, it looked like it had been some sort of device—a large compass, maybe.

Although I didn't waste time looking at the glass. I was beside Alice the next second, along with Rosalie and Jasper, who was putting a piece of paper up against the tree trunk and situating a pen in her hand. "What do you see, Alice?" he questioned.

"It's dark." Her voice was dead-panned. "I can't see—wait. Edward. I see—he's—Chris is—" And then she let out an ear-piercing shriek, dropped the pen she had in her hands, and fell to her knees.


	19. AN

**A/N:**

**So, I'm not gonna give you guys excuses about why I didn't update. Long story short: Writers' Block. Not only couldn't I write, but I also didn't **_**feel**_** like it. Hopefully, I'll be able to update more now, but there might be a number of days in between the chapters...**

**Basically, what I'm trying to say, is sorry. =(**

**But other than that, I just wanna let everyone know that I **_**want**_** to update, I do. Sometimes, though, I just don't have the time (homework, vacations, etc). **


	20. Chapter 18

I walked away, looking up at the starless sky. All I could see were clouds. Murky, grey clouds that were flooding the blackness.

The ground felt like it was shifting from under me—so I just sat down in the mud. Soil immediately began to seep into my new jeans, but that didn't matter. Nothing mattered, nothing, besides finding Edward safe, in one piece, before anyone even realized he was missing.

"Bella—" I heard Ezra say. "Are you okay?"

I just stared up at those clouds, the depressing grey colors. "What," I asked, "do you think?"

Ezra cleared his throat. "Sorry."

"I'll be right back." I stood up—all I wanted when I walked away from the group was a little peace—and started to walk away again. Where I was going, I wasn't sure, I just wanted to be alone. And sitting there, under that starless sky, wasn't going to get me that. "Stay here."

And I took off running.

***

I ran for about five minutes, which got me a decent distance away, and then sat down again, putting my head in my hands. I felt exhaustion—which was odd, for a vampire. Alice had seen Edward—and Chris—in a forest—and then...

Oh, God, why was I even thinking about this?

Resting my head on an old tree stump, I looked up at the sky once more. Wherever I had run to, the sky was clear. The stars were twinkling, brightly, and there were no clouds in sight.

Edward was—

Impossible. You can change the future in Alice's visions. It was entirely probable that we could—

Something hit me, wet and sudden, in the middle of my forehead.

I blinked and wiped away the wetness with the back of my hand. How could it be raining? There were no clouds to hold the rain—

_Plink._

Another drop of water landed, splat in my hair.

I guess the rain should have been my first clue. Rain, on a cloudless night?

But I didn't catch on.

_Plink._

I stayed where I was, letting the rain drip down my cheeks and thoughts fly through my head. _Edward, Edward, Chris, dead. Edward. Dead. Edward was going to—_

The sounds of the raindrops hitting the ground slurred together, now. _Plinkplinkplink. _All of the sounds reverberated in my skull, coursing through every bone in my body until it was overwhelming and I wasn't able to think straight. Furious with me, Chris, and everybody else in the world, I shut my eyes and bashed the back of my head against the tree trunk. Roots underneath me started to sprout from the ground, and then the entire thing fell to the ground behind me.

_Plinkplinkplink. _

They said they were going to look for Chris. But even I had enough logic in me to realize that was entirely unpractical—they were just wasting their time—we had _tried_ to look for Chris before, but it hadn't worked. Of course it hadn't. He wasn't stupid enough to—

_Crunch. _

I stopped. I would say I stopped breathing, but I hadn't been breathing in the first place.

Someone was out here. Someone was in this forest, right now, right—

Where was I?

Slowly, I got up and looked around. Rain was still pouring down, making the _plinkplink_ sound, except now I was more on my feet, more aware of everything. The way the trees swayed in the wind, some of their tops nearly reaching the ground. The way the rain was coming down harder now, and thunder was echoing through the trees and bright lightning piercing the sky.

_Crunch._

There it was again. It wasn't someone like Carlisle—they wouldn't do this. And even if Emmett and Jasper were trying to scare me—well, they wouldn't in the first place. Not knowing that I was on the verge of blowing up with this whole Edward/Chris thing going on right now.

And it wasn't someone like Chris. He was too fast to make any noise. He wasn't an amateur at this.

So, who was it?

"Hello?" I said, my voice muffled by the sounds of the pouring rain. "_Hello?!_"

A figure emerged from the woods, and I managed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh," I said. "It's just you. I thought—"

Then they lunged at me.


	21. Chapter 19

**A/N: Hey guys, I know I don't update often, but you know what would mak me update faster? Reviewwwwws. I'm not saying you have to or anything, but I really, really appreciate it when people do review my stuff. :)**

Melanie and I tumbled onto the wet ground, her hands clawing at my throat. For about a millisecond I was too stunned to do anything—including fight back. _Why was Melanie attacking me??_

And then my realistic side kicked in. I jerked my knee up, hard, so she flew off of me and to the side. Then before she could move I sprang off my back and onto my hands and knees, on either side of her, bringing my palm up and under her chin so her neck snapped back. Then I pinned her to the ground.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

She didn't reply, but she lashed out at me, causing me to fault just a little, but that was a big enough of an opening for her to rip her arms and legs free and roll over, so she was now pinning me to the ground.

"What the _hell?_" I cried, water from her soaking hair dripping down into my face. Above us more lightning flashed. "Melanie, _get off of me!_" I brought my head up swiftly so my forehead came into contact with hers. I took the half-a-second pause this caused and threw her off of me, so I was now once again pinning her to the ground.

"This," she said, "would be a lot easier if you weren't a freaking shield."

She ripped free again, but before she could trample me I jumped backwards and away, and we began to circle each other.

"What are you doing?!" I asked, feet sinking into the mud.

"I can't believe you don't know already." She dove for me, and I jumped off my right foot slightly to the left. She bashed into a tree, but recovered quickly. It was tough, circling each other in this enclosed, tree-filled space, because I only caught glimpses of Melanie as she passed through the trees.

"Know what?" I questioned, and blocked another lunge from her. Then I sidestepped and we circled again.

"If I were you," she continued, "I would have figured it out."

"Stop showing off; you're not impressing anyone, and—" I broke off in mid-sentence, pounced, got blocked, and stepped back. "—just say what's going on already."

"I—," she said, striking at me, emphasizing each word, while I blocked. "Work—for—Chris. Duh."

At the last syllable I fell back, surprised. She worked for Chris?

The air behind me moved, so quickly I wasn't sure what was happening—not sure of anything until an incredibly strong arm clasped around my waist and pulled me deeper and deeper into the trees.


	22. Chapter 20

**A/N: This is kinda short, yes, but I didn't want to keep everyone waiting for much longer. Just like I won't (hopefully) keep you waiting for the next chapter.**

**But I DO have another Twilight fanfic. I'm writing, so I'm tryin' to divide my time equally between them.**

**Anyways. On with the story.**

I didn't see who was behind me until we stopped at a large shape in the darkness—a semi-circle. It was so surrounded by trees I wasn't able to see five feet in front of me. Hauntingly, figures were running around the area of the semi-circle, moving too fast to distinguish any features, moving too fast to be human.

This was Alice's first vision.

"Hey, Bella," Chris said, and let go of my waist. I spun around and he smiled wickedly at me. "This is my humble abode. I hope you like it."

I didn't reply, I just attempted to extend my shield. Something, though, was holding me back—no matter how hard I pushed at it, nothing happened, and then I realized Chris, too, was able to shield—except much more powerfully. He wasn't born yesterday, he'd most likely already cast one around this entire forest, wherever we were.

"Don't waste your energy trying to shield this place; it's already got one. And you'll need the energy for later... not that it will do you any good... but whatever floats your boat."

"How do you know Melanie?" I demanded. Maybe if I could keep him talking for long enough...

"Through Allison, of course."

Allison? Who was—

That girl. That girl Ezra had been talking about. She had turned him to a vampire, which basically started the clan. She died, though, by newborns, wasn't it? So how...

"Bella, Bella, I thought you were more clever than this." Chris _tsk tsked_ and shook his head, bronze hair flopping over one eye. One blood red eye. "I knew Allison before I came to Forks. Before she was a vampire. And then that night _you _found me dying, I had gotten attacked—they wanted my money. I don't know how, but all the way down in Brazil, Allison's clan found out about me turning, and Allison and I being friends, and so they contacted me.

"I told them my plan. About the newborns. I told them it was for Allison. That Allison _wanted_ this before she died. Again. And I suppose being the half-witted vampires that they are, they believed me. So _then_—this is where my plan gets good—I told them to come to Forks, pretending to be vegetarians, to get an _in_ with the Cullens, and to be double-agents. During the fight, when they least expected it, the Brazilian clan would turn on the newborn's side. And with Melanie's mind control ability... well... that won't be hard."

Oh God. Oh _God. _I was going to be sick, if I could've been. Esme, Carlisle, Jasper, Rosalie, Alice, Emmett... they were all in danger. I mean, the newborns were here, which meant the fight hadn't officially started yet... but they were still in danger.

"Why, my dear, do you look so _surprised?_" Chris took a step closer to me, and I took a step back. "Did you not expect any of this? _Not one bit? At all?_" He smiled, cracked his knuckles, and I could feel something stirring in the air. "I guess I was better at this than I thought."

The air thickened, extended, and then a white light flashed and pushed me back onto the ground, roughly. I tried to extend my own shield, but I knew it was useless.

"Now, here's what I thought, Bella." Chris kneeled down beside me and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "We could have our own Bonnie and Clyde thing going on. Think of all the destruction we could cause if we set the newborns loose. Think of how much land we could rule against filthy _humans_ if we set out to do it. Of course, the Volturi stands in our way, but they'd have to go too..."

I clenched my jaw. "Chris?" I said pleasantly.

"Yes, Bella?"

"Go to hell."

"I see." He stood up, brushed the dirt off his knees. "Is that how it's going to be?" When I shrugged innocently, he snapped his fingers at some of the newborns. "Bring him out."

They rushed inside the cave with speed even I could not accomplish, and rushed back out, in front of us, with Edward in the hands. He was unconscious.

I put both hands over my mouth to keep from screaming.

"Here is what you will be winning," Chris said in a mock-TV-show-host voice. "If you choose to become one of us."

"You mean you'll let him go if—"

"Let him go?" Chris kneeled down again. "No. Obviously, we're going to let you drink his blood."

Oh God. Oh _God. _I put my head in my hands.

"And if you don't?" Chris lifted one shoulder, and then dropped it. "He'll make a tasty snack for me, and _you _will—" He stopped when he saw the newborns sniffing Edward, and snapped, "William, Paul, stop that. Put him back where he was before and go get someone from the town." They did as he said and he turned back to me. "As I was saying. If you don't, then _you_ will be the one, Bella, to go to hell."

I looked at the cave where Edward was residing in. "I'm not killing Edward."

"That's what I—"

"But I'm not joining your stupid little clan, either."

Chris, unfazed, shrugged. "It's your choice." Then he snapped his fingers again, and, within seconds, Edward was laying beside me, unconscious. I immediately checked his pulse—which was fine. He was also still breathing perfectly. Good.

He also smelled really, really, _really_ good. Which was I got up and took a few steps away from him.

Chris repeated, "Your choice, Bella. We need your help in this war."

I just shook my head. "No."

"Fine." He kicked Edward, and I winced. "Just know that—"

And then all hell broke loose.


	23. Chapter 21

Emmett came first. He burst through the trees viciously, knocking down the trees that got in his way. Then Jasper, and then the rest of them, including the Brazilians. The newborns acted almost immediately and sprung out from nooks and crannies in the cave I hadn't even noticed before, beginning to attack. I, myself, was about to get up when a pack of werewolves came from nowhere, from behind the cave, one by one, jumping off the roof of it and clawing at the newborns.

Chris was momentarily stunned, and I took that moment to see if I could break the shield.

I couldn't.

Melanie came running at that point, picked up Edward, and ran away, into the trees. I kicked Chris hard enough to send him flying backwards, sliding into the mud, before following her into the darkness.

***

"_MELANIE!_" I screeched so loud the ground rumbled—but I suppose that could have been the thunder. As I ran I swiped my wet hair from my eyes. "MELANIE! If you were BRAVE enough you would come out here and fight me yourself!"

I stopped running when her scent suddenly disappeared. Clenching my fists and my jaw, I jerked my head around, refusing to acknowledge the severity of the situation, looking for her—for Edward—for anything that might help. The rain continued to pour, making it harder to see deep through the trees, and every so often a flash of lightning would light up the forest ground.

"_YOU COWARD!_" I screamed into the rain. "You _COWARD!_"

She hit me from behind. Luckily I was aware of her a good second before her hands made contact with my throat, so I was prepared. I snapped up in time to claw her hands away and swing her entire body around, around and around, until I picked up enough speed and momentum to let go of her wrists and bash her into a tree. Growling, I smashed her body into another tree. And then another. And another.

"Maybe," I yelled, accenting each of my words with a hit. "Next. Time. You. Won't. Be. Such. A. _BITCH!_"

I didn't stop until I heard a rustling behind me, at which I spun around to, not ceasing to slam Melanie into the ground. "WHO'S THERE?" I yelled.

"Bella?" a familiar voice said, and I almost dropped Melanie. "What's going on?"

Edward stepped out from a bush to stare at me. I opened my mouth to reply, when a newborn came up from behind him and pounced. I screamed a blood-curdling scream and let go of Melanie to lunge for the newborn, except my hands passed right through it.

_What the—_

I didn't figure out what was going on until it was too late and Melanie had grabbed me from behind.

***

I somehow broke free within seconds, anger still boiling up inside of me, and ran back, towards the fight. Someone had created that illusion, and whoever that someone was, they were powerful. I needed to help with the fight—I needed to protect everyone else from those illusions.

As soon as I saw the fight I knew we had almost no chance of winning it. The newborns were everywhere—and even the wolves were having troubles fighting them off. Chris was nowhere to be seen; I couldn't decide if this was a good or bad sign. I outstretched my shield, which was tough, considering the one Chris had already put up, around everyone, until I could see it take everyone on our side's shape and form individually. The Brazilian clan included—I hadn't known for sure if they were on our side, but when seeing Ezra help a wolf I made a quick decision that they were.

"It's funny," someone said from behind me, and I felt a sudden pressure on my shield. I groaned under the weight, ground my teeth together, and let the shield outstretch harder. "It's funny, Bella, how I gave you the chance—" Another tug on it. "—to fight with us, to _survive_, you turn it down and—" Another—but even harder this time. "—you choose to die anyways, along with all these other clueless morons."

I fell to my knees under the pressure and attempted to make the shield bigger, wider, so when it retracted it wouldn't be by much, but it didn't work. Chris's shield was some way even stronger.

"We. Aren't. Morons," I said, with difficulty. "You're... just..." I groaned again as his shield pressed down, stronger. I couldn't finish the sentence. Even that would take too much out of me.

"I gave you the chance," he growled. "And you IGNORED IT."

The white flash came faster and stronger this time, and it pushed so hard on my shield I could hear it shatter. It was too bright—too bright—

"Stupid, Bella. Stupid."

I covered my ears and shut my eyes, trying to block out the light. Why were my eyes so sensitive to this when I was a vampire?

People were screaming. I wasn't sure if it was the newborns or my family or both, but that was all I could hear.

"STOP!" I managed to croak out. "STOP, I'LL DO IT, I'LL HELP YOU."

Suddenly the whiteness flew away; it just stopped. Everybody—the newborns, _everyone—_was on the ground.

Chris smiled and I felt it in his shield—I felt him take it down enough—maybe it was enough—

"Finally." His smile grew wider and the shield continued to weaken. "I knew you would come around."

It _was_ enough. Because the next moment I felt his shatter and mine take over, and then he fell to the ground.

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing! Please keep doing it =) **


	24. Chapter 22

**A/N: I can only squeeze a few more chapters out of this story until I gotta end it. If I get enough reviews these last chapters, I think I may write a sequel or something in my spare time. Woo!**

It was hard to fight off the newborns. Definitely harder than I thought it would be. At one point a newborn was ready to rip off my arm, when one of the werewolves, one egomaniac I only talked to a few times named Jacob Black, jumped from nowhere and tackled him. All I kept thinking was, _Oh God, if we get through the night alive, all of us, I swear I will never complain about the wolves' smell again. Ever. _

Alice, Jasper, Carlisle and some of the other wolves had gone off to look for Edward and Melanie. I still had no idea where they were, and that scared me. A lot. But I knew that being at the fight was almost more important than looking for Edward, because they needed me shielding them from those illusions.

Having Edward on my mind during the fight, you would think, would be a disadvantage. But I used it to my _ad_vantage, and thought, _Once you're done here, you can find Edward. Once you're done here, you can find Edward. _

And that, clearly, kept me going.

***

We killed them all. All the newborns, dead. The cave and surrounding area was scattered with bodies—bodies that probably had no choice to be there or not, but once they were one of _us_, there was no turning back. It was sickening, because most of these people were teenagers, and most of those teenagers probably had families back home, worrying about them.

"They found Melanie," Esme reported to me. "Carlisle came back to tell me. They got her."

She didn't say more after that, and even though it didn't make sense, my heart panged a little. Esme not saying more meant that they hadn't found Edward. Edward wasn't with them.

"Oh," I said weakly. "Well, let's keep looking."

***

We did. We searched for hours and hours. And no Edward.

"We'll find him," I muttered. "We'll find him."

But we didn't. We didn't find him. We searched the entire forest for something, _something_, and found absolutely nothing. Not even his scent was anywhere, and if it was, Melanie's was overpowering it. It was impossible to find anything, and the pouring rain and darkness didn't help much.

"Stop worrying," I repeated. "We _will_ find him."

And yet, we didn't.

***

We walked, slowly, home, defeated. I wanted to cry. I wanted to curl up in a ball on the ground, vulnerable, and cry and cry and cry until someone came and ripped me up and threw my remains into a fire. How could I let this happen? This was my fault. Of course it was my fault. I couldn't resist his blood. And now look where we were.

"I'm horrible," I said, kicking a tree. It fell and everyone jumped.

"No," Alice replied. "_This_ is horrible. They're still looking for him, Bella. They're still looking."

"What about your vision?" I demanded. "You saw him being ripped apart by a newborn."

"So did you," she pointed out. "And it was an illusion. Have you ever thought that maybe _that_ was what I saw? Just an illusion?"

"Yes. But is that even possible? Seeing an illusion in a vision?"

"Obviously, since I saw one." She looked triumphantly at him.

"Alice stop being so freaking positive. You're annoying the hell outta me."

"Well stop being negative and I'll stop being positive."

"It isn't that simple," I grumbled.

"Yes, it is that simple."

"Nothing is ever simple with me, Alice. Everything always has to be complicated. So complicated in fact, that I caused Chris to create an army of newborns—"

"Chris is dead now, Bella. We killed him."

I ignored her. "—who all died because of me. And now Edward freaking died because he wanted to go on a date with me."

"Shut up. He isn't dead. He's MIA."

"Just a nicer way of saying he's dead."

"I said shut up—"

I shut up and tuned her out. But only because just then, I had picked up the faintest smell of Edward. The faintest trail, leading down towards our house. Instantly, I took off running, following the scent, until I was opening the front door to my house and up the stairs, only to find an unconscious Edward lying on the ground.


	25. Chapter 23

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing =) I really appreciate it. **

I sat down in class and waited, running my fingers through my hair, nervous. I had nothing to be nervous about—except that today was the first day back from school since... well, since what happened with the Brazilian vampires and Chris and all of that.

_One Week Earlier_

"_What happened?" Carlisle rushed in the room, looking ready for action. His eyes scanned the room until they rest on Edward's unconscious body, lying on the ground. _

_ "I don't know. We came home—and he was here—and—Carlisle, just please, please do something..." _

_ He didn't say much else, but set to work on taking Edward's temperature, stitching up something on his arm, and telling me to keep my hand on his forehead to bring down his fever. _

_ "You don't know how he got here?" Carlisle asked. _

_ I shook my head. "Alice and I were walking, and suddenly I could smell him, so I traced it and... and for some reason, he was here." _

_ Carlisle continued to work on Edward, bandaging up smaller cuts and stitching the bigger ones. I winced every time Edward flinched a little. What would happen when—if—he woke up? What would I say to him?_

Now

I clicked my pen furiously until the blonde kid, Mike, first asked me how I was clicking my pen so quickly and then when I didn't reply, he just told me to stop because I was irritating him.

Placing my pen perfectly horizontally in front of me, I began to tap my feet. I needed something to keep myself busy, my mind off of everything. Because when Edward walked in—it was done. He wouldn't remember anything. He wouldn't remember anything.

---

_Alice sat beside me on the couch and, like I was, stared at Edward. His chest was rising and falling evenly. _

_ "He'll wake up in a minute,"_ _Alice told me. "I saw it. Don't worry. You say the right thing." _

_ "How can I say the right thing?" I questioned. _

_ "You will. Just—" Her eyes clouded over, her face fell, and just as she snapped out of it the doorbell rang. She swore harshly under her breath before telling me to go upstairs and stay with Edward. _

_ I did as she said, because I wasn't in the mood for arguing. It was probably no big deal anyways, like Rose, coming home from wherever she was, angry because she hadn't gotten to the sales at the mall on time or whatever. _

_ So I sat upstairs with Edward and ignored Carlisle's frantic mood, as he whipped past me on my way up the stairs. I tuned everything out until the door opened and I heard Alice say, "Hello, Jane." _

---

I tapped my feet to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, simply because I had nothing else to do besides sit there and wait for Edward to come in, wait for him to stare at me with a blank expression, because he wouldn't know who I was.

It would hurt. Of course it would hurt. But it was for the best. Of course it was for the best. Without doing what they had done, who knows what kind of horrible memory would be placed in his brain for ever, just hanging there, inextricable.

---

_I spun around on the platform, automatically sending out a shield around everyone. Around Alice and Carlisle, around Esme who was now coming into the entranceway from the kitchen, around myself, and around Edward, mainly Edward, because whatever happened now, he wouldn't have strength to fight back. _

"_Alice." Jane nodded curtly, her black cape billowed behind her, made waves in tune with the wind. "Carlisle. Esme. Isabella." _

"_Jane," I replied, bracing myself. Were the others here? What did they want, anyways? _

_She licked her lips. Her pale brown hair moved like her cape around her shoulders. "I am here because Felix and Demetri would not be useful in a situation such as this. They are too..." She licked her lips again. "_Un_useful._"

"_And what," Carlisle said, "is this situation?" _

_Jane's head snapped towards him. "Please, Carlisle, do not play clueless. I know about the boy. Where is he?" _

"_Then I suppose you were informed of the newborn attack?" Carlisle avoided her question. "Why, exactly, did you do absolutely nothing about it? You didn't care to help us?" _

_Jane smirked. "There was no need." _

_ "No need?" I demanded, and Alice gave me a warning look. "There was _no need!? _Of course there was a need, Jane, we almost all died because of that. Including Ed—" I stopped myself, took a deep breath, calmed down, continued. "Including the other clans." _

_ That damn smirk didn't wipe off her face, which gave me the temptation to punch her right in the face. "Including—the other clans? And, naturally, the boy. Am I correct?" _

_ "What would you like with the boy?" said Carlisle. _

_ "What would I like with the boy?" Jane echoed, and took a step inside of the house. "I understand he was held hostage by the newborns? Yes? Therefore, he knows our secret, and furthermore, you know what the consequence for that is." _

_ "Nothing," I replied. "Nothing is the consequence, because he would never—"_

_ "Humans will surprise you." _

_ "Not this one." _

_ We stared at each other for a few seconds, her pupils widened, but nothing happened. She sighed. "I see you're hard at work, Bella." _

_ "You expected any less?" _

_ "Good point. Now. Please. Everyone get out of my way. I have no choice." _

_ I shook my head. No. No. This wasn't happening. None of this happened. All of this was a horrible nightmare, and any moment I would wake up in my bed back home, with Renee in the room down the hall. "Of course you have another choice." _

_ All heads turned to me, and there was silence for a moment until Jane said, "I suppose we have another choice. To be honest, we have two. And neither is painless." _

_ Carlisle blinked. "Two?" _

_ "One." Jane ticked off her fingers. "The boy becomes one of us." _

_ That wasn't what I meant. And there was no way in hell Edward would be turning into a vampire any time soon. In fact, there was no way in hell Edward would be turning into a vampire _at all. _Period. _

_ "Two. We have... a _different _method now. We gathered a new member, named Charlize..." Her smirk widened and her eyes crinkled up a little. "She has the ability to erase one's memory." _


	26. Chapter 24

When Edward walked in the room I looked down, a curtain of hair shielding my face. I was afraid. I was terrified. No, terrified didn't even begin to describe it. There was no word to go to the extreme lengths I was feeling at that moment.

I was afraid of what I would feel when Edward didn't know who I was.

I was afraid.

Edward looked around the room until he saw the only empty seat beside me. He walked over, pulled out the stool, and sat down, without a word.

Oh God, it hurt more than I thought.

That was when he slid an envelope towards me.

I glanced over at him, but his eyes were fixated on some kind of homework he probably hadn't been able to do. For a few seconds, I just stared at that envelope, lying there. He had clearly meant it to be for me, he had slid it deliberately across the countertop.

I picked it up, slowly, hesitantly, like it might explode upon contact, but opened it anyhow.

_**Dear Isabella Cullen, **_

_You don't know me (well, I suppose you do, you just don't remember me), but I know you. When Jane brought this boy to me, she told me the situation. I remembered your name from that one fateful night, and have decided to do you a deep favour. Of course, I _will _be holding this against you for a while, but what else can you expect from me? _

_Long story short, he still remembers you. He remembers everything, besides the part where those feisty newborns used him as a blood bank. I thought he was best without that memory. _

_You owe me one,_

_Charlize Banks_


	27. After Everything

**A/N: I am **_**so**_** sorry I haven't updated, guys. I guess I lost the will I had before to write this story.**

**Anyways, this will be the last chapter. **

**I hope you enjoyed this fanfic, and thank you to all who have reviewed, or even just added it to their favourite/story alert list. You guys are awesome (:**

Edward and I sat in the cab of my truck, where I told him to meet me after the whole note incident, silent, the only sound the music softly playing through the speakers. I twiddled my thumbs, wishing I could read his mind.

"A woman was there when I woke up," he said. "She looked... like you."

I nodded. Not _like_ me. But she was _like_ me.

"She said she was there to do a very important job. She said she was a friend of yours. And I—I can't remember—but something happened. Something really bad. And she said she wanted to help me. So she put her hands on my temples and I felt... kind of better. Kind of.

"A few minutes later after she got me a drink of water she told me that she wasn't finished, but since she was a friend of yours, she wasn't going to. She told me about everything, that you're not... well, you know, alive, and then she said not to tell anybody that I knew about it all. Or you and your family would be in trouble." He looked at me. "Is that true?"

I swallowed and nodded. I wanted him to continue.

"She said that she knew you from back when you were human. She said that it was a night that you probably remember, because it was a very important night."

A very important night?

"Anyways, apparently she saved your life, but not your soul. Something like that. This doesn't make any sense to me—do you know what she's talking about? She also said that the Cullens would remember her if they saw her, but not by her name, because she had to change it when she joined the Volturi."

I could see it now. I could remember that night—the night my class and I got attacked. We were walking, and they came from nowhere, they were too fast, and suddenly they were around us...

"_There's a lot," one says. She's standing off to the side of the rest of them, and when she talks, my friend back then, Lily, grabs my hand. _

_ "The more the better," another one of them says. There's about ten of them, and that's enough to make us all terrified, although there are more of us than there is of them. _

_ "Maybe we shouldn't," the first one speaks slowly, almost hesitantly. "They might suspect something."_

_ "I'm hungry. They smell good. Let's eat." He lunges for Lily, and I try to pull her out of the way, but he's over to us before I can even tug. I hear the sickening snap and I gasp and fall off to the side. His teeth dig into her neck and—_

_ They all are being attacked. All of them. I'm on the ground defenceless, and I'm trying to crawl away, trying to find my cell phone so I can call for help, but then the same guy who snapped Lily's neck is above me. He licks his lip before—it hurts—oh it hurts—I want to push him off but it hurts too much to move—_

_ "Stop," the voice I heard first breaks through the screams. "Someone's coming." _

_ A fraction of the pain disappears, but that fraction is only one in one million. It burns—oh God someone just kill me now. Now._

_ There is a rustling of the bushes, and then more appear. My vision is blurry but I can still see them. Are they here to help or to—_

_ I want to scream for someone to help me, but I realize I'm already yelling and crying and clasping at my neck with both of my hands; I can't function properly, it feels like my blood is boiling and my veins are about to burst and— _

_ "She's alive," that same voice says, and hands are placed under me. I lash out and kick and scream louder but they're too strong, impossibly strong. "She's already turning. I was trying to stop them—"_

And then I couldn't remember. I must have blacked out or it was too traumatizing to remember.

"Do you remember her?" Edward asked.

She saved my life… so was she the first voice? But wasn't she with the others, the others that attacked us? I would have to ask Carlisle later.

"I think," I said. "I think I do."

"Oh," he said. "Because she also said you owe her one."

I owed her two, actually, now, but didn't mention that aloud.

"Are you okay?" I asked Edward, because that's all I really needed to know. When he nodded, I sighed and leaned back in the seat. All of this was too much. Just… too much.

"Are _you_ okay?"

"I'm fine," I said, even though I was wondering grimly what she might have meant by me owing her one.

***

Carlisle said that there was one vampire during the night of my attack, yes, that had tried to stop the others. One that, although often drank human because of the strong temptation, didn't get it from the humans themselves, but from stealing bags of blood from blood banks or hospitals or something like that. He said it must be this person that had only half-erased Edward's memory.

After I'd told Edward everything in the truck after he slid me that envelope in Biology, he seemed a bit shaken up. But not shocked. When I pushed him out of the way of that car, that one day, and he flew across the road and landed roughly into that tree, he suspected _something_ was wrong. Something had to be up. He just hadn't known what.

"The Volturi don't _know_ she didn't erase his memory?" Rosalie questioned that night. Carlisle had called a meeting so everyone would know what was going on. "Doesn't that mean if they find out—"

"We're all dead," I said, casually, like this didn't bother me whatsoever. "But that won't happen, because the Volturi won't find out."

"They'll find out, Bella. They always find out—"

"Not this time," I tell her, and wish Ezra was here to back me up on it, since we'd seen things pretty similarly. The Brazilian clan, after the fight, had decided to leave Forks and go back to Brazil. They were never allied with Chris, Ezra had told us. Melanie had been the one to beg them to come to Forks, to avenge Allison's death. But when the rest of them met us, vegetarians, they realized we weren't the cause of her death. And turning against us would be turning against their own point of views.

"Do you know how much we're in _danger_ now?" Rosalie continues to question. "Because of that one human boy? Because you like how he smells? This is horrible, Bella, and you _know it_."

I knew it.

"Rose," Alice said, standing up from the couch. "Shut up, all right? We're in danger, whatever, we're always in danger. There is no way the Volturi will find out his memory isn't erased, unless someone tells them." She glanced around the room, arms crossed over her chest. "Unless any of you would go ahead and tell them?"

Emmett and Jasper both shook their heads. Esme looked disgusted that Alice would even have to ask that question. Rosalie said, "Of course I wouldn't. I just—"

"Just _nothing_. It's over and done with now. We can't go back in time and change what happened." Alice clapped her hands once loudly, like we had all reached a decision. "Meeting adjourned."

***

During school, besides Biology, Edward and I had barely any contact. It would be too dangerous. Who knew if the Volturi had others watching and waiting, just for the right time, to prove that Edward's memory wasn't completely erased?

After school, most of the times Alice and Jasper would tag along, we'd go bowling or something, acting like totally normal teenagers. I'd even drink a slurpee now and again in case the Volturi _did_ have someone watching, and drinking that slurpee made a point. A point that Edward had no idea about vampires not being able to eat or drink, and therefore having no idea about vampires.

"Your turn, Bella," Alice said, one time while we were all bowling. Edward was winning out of all of us, somehow.

I grabbed the most colourful bowling ball of them all and walked slowly across the floor, my uncomfortable bowling shoes squeaking with every step I took. I threw the ball as fast as possible—what, did you think I was going to let Edward beat me?—and all the pins fell over. Smiling, I turned around and stuck my tongue out at Edward, who snorted and proceeded to take his turn, also receiving a strike.

"What do you do?" I asked him. "Take bowling lessons over the weekend or something?"

"That's confidential," he told me with a wink.

I let out a bit of a laugh. "Oh, well we'll see about that when the winner is actually announced."

"I'm going to get some popcorn or something," Edward said, after we'd all had another turn. "Anyone care to join me?"

I didn't bother saying I would care to join him; it was just automatic. The two of us walked together to the concession counter. I decided to get a chocolate bar, to put more emphasis on that one point, just in case. Edward got a large container of popcorn, enough for all four of us, and just as I was giving the cashier—a teenage girl who kept popping the gum in her mouth annoyingly—the dollar fifty, something near the door caught my eye.

I faced whatever it was. Standing in between the entrance way and the washrooms there was a woman with long, curly black hair that went down to her waist. Her eyes were bright red and staring menacingly at me, like she could penetrate the surface of my thoughts. I blinked a few times. She was a vampire.

"Bella?" I could hear Edward's voice distantly, but my eyes stayed on the vampire across the room.

The corners of her lips slowly turned skywards, higher and higher until there were two dimples in her porcelain skin. Her arms across her chest and one ankle carelessly over another, that smile on her face sent shivers through my body. The woman winked at me, and when I blinked, she was gone.

"Bella?" Edward said again, and I faced him.

"Sorry. W-what were we doing again?"

"Chocolate bar?" He handed me the Hershey's chocolate, wrapped in shiny gold aluminum paper, and I blinked once more. Had that been…?

But there wasn't really a doubt in my mind. I knew who that was.

Charlize.

"Are you ready?" Edward was looking at me, his brow furrowed, and I shook myself mentally before plastering on a smile. Well, that had been Charlize—so what? If she had wanted something, she would have said.

For now, I wasn't going to worry about Charlize. Or the Volturi. I was going to bowl, like a normal person, and have fun.

Because, after everything that had happened, I think I deserved a few moments of peace.


End file.
